The rupee staged a recovery on Wednesday, ending 12 paise higher at 88.68 (provisional) against the US dollar after slipping to an all-time closing low the previous day. The Reserve Bank of India’s latest monetary policy announcement, which included steps to assist exporters and maintain currency stability, boosted the domestic unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 88.79 against the dollar, touched a day’s high of 88.65, and finally closed at 88.68, bouncing back from Tuesday’s record low of 88.80.
RBI stance and supportive moves
In its fourth monetary policy review for FY26, the RBI left the repo rate unchanged at 5.5 per cent and retained a neutral stance. Governor Sanjay Malhotra also introduced additional measures to help exporters, which, combined with easing global crude oil prices and strong domestic markets, lent support to the rupee.
“The rupee is likely to strengthen further as RBI measures, along with weakness in the US dollar, may provide stability,” said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst Currency and Commodities, Mirae Asset ShareKhan.
Global cues
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback’s strength against six major currencies, slipped slightly to 97.75 amid concerns over a possible US government shutdown and weaker consumer sentiment data. Brent crude futures also dropped 0.74 per cent to USD 65.54 per barrel, further aiding the rupee.
Choudhary, however, cautioned that factors such as foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows and the US visa fee hike issue could restrict the currency’s upside, projecting the USD-INR range at 88.35–88.90.
Equities rally
Meanwhile, domestic equity markets closed on a strong note, with the Sensex soaring 715.69 points to 80,983.31 and the Nifty climbing 225.20 points to 24,836.30. Exchange data showed FIIs sold equities worth ₹2,327.09 crore on Tuesday.
While RBI held rates steady as expected, Governor Malhotra signalled flexibility for possible easing in coming months to shield the economy from any fallout of US tariffs.