Mumbai, Jan 8 (PTI) The rupee settled 3 paise lower at 89.90 against the US dollar on Thursday, amid sustained outflow of foreign funds and a stronger greenback.
The apprehension of further tariffs by the US
and weak sentiments at the domestic equity markets fuelled selling of equities by foreign investors, putting more pressure on the local unit, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 89.96 and traded in the range of 89.73 to 90.13. It settled at 89.90, down 3 paise from its previous close.
On Wednesday, the domestic currency closed with a sharp gain of 31 paise at 89.97 against the greenback on possible intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
“India faces big trouble on its exports if the US increases tariffs by even 10 bps, as sentimentally it changes from ‘the deal in pipeline’ to ‘back to square one’. RBI shorts in the markets will keep the dollar buying sentiment,” Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
The rupee is expected in the range of 89.80 to 90.30 on Friday, he said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.02 per cent higher at 98.70.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.85 per cent higher at USD 60.47 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex tanked 780.18 points to settle at 84,180.9, while the Nifty fell 263.90 points to 25,876.85.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,367.12 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
The government, in its latest estimate on Wednesday, projected the country’s GDP to grow by 7.4 per cent in the current fiscal year, maintaining its status as the world’s fastest-growing major economy despite punitive US tariffs and geopolitical tensions.
The First Advance Estimates released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation put GDP growth in 2025-26 at better than 7.3 per cent, forecast by the RBI and the government’s initial projection of 6.3-6.8 per cent. PTI TRB HVA
