Rupee ends flat at 85.64 against U.S. dollar

Image used for representation. Photo: V.V. Krishnan

The rupee settled flat at 85.64 against the U.S. dollar in the first session of 2025 on Wednesday (January 1, 2025), as gains from positive domestic equities were offset by unabated foreign fund outflows.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.63 and touched an intraday low of 85.72 against the greenback during the session.

The unit ended the session at 85.64 against the dollar, unchanged from its previous close.

On Tuesday (December 31, 2024), the rupee depreciated 12 paise to close at a fresh all-time closing low of 85.64 against the U.S. dollar.

On December 27, the local currency touched its lifetime intraday low of 85.80 against the greenback.

The rupee remained well-bid on Wednesday (January 1, 2025). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold around 85.7250 and ensured no more fall in the currency, as it rose to 85.62 but closed lower in a low-volume day due to a holiday in the U.S. and most corporates were absent from the scene, according to Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

“The rupee is still vulnerable to lower levels as dollar and yields remain well bid. The dollar index was at 108.4675 virtually unchanged from its morning level, while U.S. 10-year yields were at 4.5730%. Asian currencies generally remained stable…,” Mr. Bhansali added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, stood at 108.48.

Forex traders said the dollar index (DXY) and U.S. 10-year bond yields have been on an uptrend, largely owing to the Federal Reserve’s cautious stance and the “Trump factor”.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was quoted at $74.64 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex closed 368.40 points, or 0.47% higher, at 78,507.41 points. The Nifty settled 98.10 points or 0.41% higher at 23,742.90 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded ₹4,645.22 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Tuesday (December 31, 2024), according to exchange data.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, the Centre’s fiscal deficit at the end of the eighth month of the financial year 2024-25 touched 52.5% of the full-year target, government data showed on Tuesday (December 31, 2024).

In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit – the gap between the government’s expenditure and revenue – was about ₹8.47 lakh crore during the April-November period, according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).