The rupee opened on a weak note and slumped to an all-time low of 96.25 in early trade on Monday (May 18, 2026), as elevated crude oil prices, global uncertainty, and a stronger dollar continue to remain key risks for the domestic unit.

Forex traders said higher crude oil prices, a stronger U.S. dollar, and ongoing geopolitical tensions have together created a difficult environment for emerging market currencies, and the rupee is now clearly reflecting that stress.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 96.19, then fell further to 96.25 against the U.S. dollar, registering a fall of 44 paise from its previous close.

On Friday (May 15, 2026), the Indian rupee crashed below the 96/$ mark on Friday (May 15, 2026) before closing at an all-time low of 95.81 against the U.S. dollar.

“For now, elevated crude oil prices, global uncertainty, and a stronger dollar continue to remain key risks for the rupee. However, the encouraging sign for markets is that both the government and the RBI have already started taking proactive measures to manage the situation before it becomes more uncomfortable,” CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.

“Technically, 94.80–95.10 is expected to act as an important support zone for USD-INR, while 96.00–96.50 remains a strong resistance area in the near term,” Mr. Pabari added.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.32, higher by 0.04% due to simmering Iran tensions.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading up 1.83% at $111.26 per barrel in futures trade.

“With the rise in oil prices to beyond $111.50 per barrel, rupee will be affected the most as rising oil prices increases the outflows of U.S. dollar along with the outflows already happening due to FPIs,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Meanwhile, within days of levying high customs duties on precious metals, the government on Saturday (May 16, 2026) imposed import curbs on silver by putting the metal under a licensed regime for inbound shipments.

The government, on May 13, hiked import duty on precious metals – gold, and silver – from 6% to 15%. The effective duty (including 3% IGST) is over 18%.

It was hiked to control the outflow of forex by curbing non-essential imports. “Only stoppage of war and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz can bring about a lower demand on the $/rupee pair, else 100 seems to be on the card if RBI does not announce any schemes to increase dollar inflow into the country,” Mr. Bhansali added.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex tanked 833.20 points to 74,404.79 in early trade, while the Nifty was down 234 points to 23,401.70.

Foreign Institutional Investors remained net buyers for the second straight session, purchasing equities worth ₹1,329.17 crore on Friday (May 15, 2026), according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India’s forex reserves jumped by $6.295 billion to $696.988 billion during the week ended May 8, the Reserve Bank said on Friday (May 15, 2026). The overall reserves had dropped by $7.794 billion to $690.693 billion in the previous reporting week.

Published – May 18, 2026 10:31 am IST

Photo used for representation purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The rupee’s slide show went on for the second straight session on Monday (January 13, 2025) as it crashed 27 paise to hit a new lifetime low of 86.31 against the U.S. dollar, dragged down by a robust American currency amid volatile global cues.

A record surge in crude oil prices, sustained outflow of foreign capital, and a negative trend in domestic equity markets also kept the Indian currency under pressure, forex traders said.

The dollar, they said, strengthened on better-than-expected job growth in the U.S. market, which also fuelled the benchmark treasury yields amid expectations of slower interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 86.12 and fell to the historic low level of 86.31 against the greenback in initial deals, registering a steep loss of 27 paise from its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee declined 18 paise to settle at 86.04 against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading up 0.22 per cent to its over two-year-high level of 109.72. The 10-year US bond yields remained elevated touching its October 2023 level at 4.76 per cent.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged 1.44% to $80.91 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 550.49 points, or 0.71%, lower at 76,828.42 points, while the Nifty was down 182.45 points, or 0.78%, at 23,249.05 points.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded ₹2,254.68 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said the country’s forex reserves dropped by USD 5.693 billion to USD 634.585 billion in the week ended January 3.

The latest government data released on Friday, however, showed the industrial production (IIP) growth accelerated to a six-month high of 5.2% year-on-year in November 2024, riding on the increased festive demand and pick-up in the manufacturing sector.

Photo used for representation purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The rupee’s slide show went on for the second straight session on Monday (January 13, 2025) as it crashed 32 paise to hit a new lifetime low of 86.36 against the U.S. dollar, dragged down by a robust American currency amid volatile global cues.

A record surge in crude oil prices, sustained outflow of foreign capital, and a negative trend in domestic equity markets also kept the Indian currency under pressure, forex traders said.

The dollar, they said, strengthened on better-than-expected job growth in the U.S. market, which also fuelled the benchmark treasury yields amid expectations of slower interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 86.12 and fell to the historic low level of 86.31 against the greenback in initial deals, registering a steep loss of 27 paise from its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee declined 18 paise to settle at 86.04 against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading up 0.22 per cent to its over two-year-high level of 109.72. The 10-year US bond yields remained elevated touching its October 2023 level at 4.76 per cent.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged 1.44% to $80.91 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 550.49 points, or 0.71%, lower at 76,828.42 points, while the Nifty was down 182.45 points, or 0.78%, at 23,249.05 points.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded ₹2,254.68 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said the country’s forex reserves dropped by USD 5.693 billion to USD 634.585 billion in the week ended January 3.

The latest government data released on Friday, however, showed the industrial production (IIP) growth accelerated to a six-month high of 5.2% year-on-year in November 2024, riding on the increased festive demand and pick-up in the manufacturing sector.

Photo used for representation purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The rupee slipped 1 paisa to its record low of 85.92 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Thursday (January 9, 2025), the third straight session of downfall, weighed down by a stronger American currency and higher crude oil prices.

Forex traders said the relentless outflow of foreign funds amid soaring U.S. bond yields boosted the American currency, while subdued domestic equity markets pushed the rupee down further.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at its historic low level of 85.94 and inched up to 85.92 against the greenback in initial deals, trading with a loss of 1 paisa from its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee plunged 17 paise to settle at its all-time low closing level of 85.91 against the dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.11 per cent lower but stayed elevated at 108.80.

The 10-year US bond yields also remained elevated at 4.66 per cent amid expectations of delayed interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve on better growth prospects of the world’s largest economy.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.10 per cent to USD 76.08 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 243.43 points, or 0.31 per cent, lower at 77,905.06 points, while the Nifty was down 72.40 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 23,616.55 points.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 3,362.18 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

The Rupee’s earlier sharpest one-day fall of 68 paise was recorded on February 2, 2023. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Rupee fell steepest in almost two years to hit its lifetime intraday low of 85.80 before a suspected Central bank intervention helped recover some of its losses and settled 23 paise lower at a record low of 85.50 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Friday (December 27, 2024) owing to a strong greenback amid increased month-end demand from banks and importers.

According to analysts, the Reserve Bank of India’s stance to hold on to its dollar payments in short-term forward contracts added to the shortage of greenback, with importers rushing to meet their month-end payment obligations.

“Despite robust sentiment in domestic equity markets, the Rupee was weighed down by sustained outflow of foreign funds and rising crude oil prices,” they added. At the interbank foreign exchange, the Rupee opened weak at 85.31 and plunged 53 paise to the lowest-ever intraday level of 85.80.

The unit finally ended the session at 85.50 (provisional) against the greenback, losing 23 paise from its previous closing level of 85.27. The Rupee’s earlier sharpest one-day fall of 68 paise was recorded on February 2, 2023.

The domestic unit has been hitting new lows almost every day in the past couple of weeks. It had plunged 12 paise to 85.27 against the dollar on Thursday (December 26, 2024) after declining 13 paise in the previous two sessions.

“The Central bank holds $21 billion in short-side forward contracts set to mature in December and January. Market speculation suggests that the RBI has refrained from rolling over these maturing forwards, leading to a scarcity of dollars and an oversupply of Rupees.

“Moreover, dollar liquidity in the market remains very low, amplifying the upward momentum in the pair. This imbalance has propelled the USD-INR pair towards 85.8075 levels,” said Amit Pabari, MD of CR Forex Advisors.

According to Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, the Rupee hit a record low on dollar demand from importers towards the end of the month and outflows from foreign investors (FIIs).

“Rising U.S. treasury yields and crude oil prices also weighed on the Rupee,” he said and projected the USD-INR spot price in a range of ₹85.30 to ₹85.85, saying traders may take cues from goods trade balance data from the U.S.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.04% at 107.94, while the 10-year benchmark U.S. Treasury yield rose 0.76%, hitting its seven-month high level of 4.61%. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.15% to $73.37 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 226.59 points or 0.29% higher at 78,699.07 points, while Nifty went up 63.20 points or 0.27% to close at 23,813.40 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Thursday (December 26, 2024), as they offloaded shares worth ₹2,376.67 crore, according to exchange data.