Rupee appreciates 26 paise to 85.54 against U.S. dollar in early trade

The rupee had risen sharply by 58 paise in the preceding session on April 11, 2025. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The rupee stayed firm and appreciated 26 paise to 85.54 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Wednesday (April 16, 2025) on the back of a massive inflow of foreign capital, a weak American currency and lower crude oil prices.

Forex traders said the positive macroeconomic numbers that came on the heels of the 90-day reprieve from U.S. reciprocal tariffs fuelled buying in domestic equities by foreign investors, adding strength to the local currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened strong at 85.66 and gained further to trade at 85.54 against the greenback in initial deals, 26 paise higher from the previous closing level.

The rupee had closed Tuesday’s (April 15) session with a gain of 30 paise at 85.80 against the dollar. It had risen sharply by 58 paise in the preceding session on Friday (April 11).

Forex markets were closed on Monday (April 14) on account of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.47% at 99.49, a level seen on March 1, 2022.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.36% to its four-year low of $64.44 per barrel in futures trade. The crude had earlier hit this level in April 2021.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 118.02 points, or 0.15%, to 76,616.87, while the Nifty declined 41.10 points, or 0.18%, to 23,287.45. Both the indices had closed Tuesday’s (April 15) session over 2% higher.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹6,065.78 crore on a net basis on Tuesday (April 15), according to exchange data.

The latest government data released on Tuesday (April 15) showed wholesale price inflation in the country declined to a 6-month low of 2.05% in March as prices of vegetables, potato and other food items eased.

Retail inflation dipped marginally to a nearly six-year low of 3.34% in March due to a decline in the prices of vegetables and protein-rich items.

Another set of data showed India’s exports turned positive after four months, recording a marginal 0.7% increase to $41.97 billion in March, while overall exports of goods and services have crossed an all-time high of $820 billion in the last fiscal year despite global economic uncertainties.