Rupee falls 5 paise to 87.11 against US dollar in early trade

Follow The Hindu’s updates on the rupee trading: Rupee falls against US dollar despite initial gains, influenced by lower American currency, crude oil prices, and volatile equity markets on March 6, 2025

The rupee failed to sustain its gaining momentum and fell 5 paise to 87.11 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday (March 6, 2025) as a lower American currency and crude oil prices failed to boost sentiment amid volatile equity markets and foreign funds outflow.

The local currency found support initially amid the move by the United States to delay implementation of higher tariffs on Canada and Mexico, forex traders said. Also, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s decision to infuse ₹1.9 trillion liquidity into the banking system added strength to the domestic unit. However, they said, volatile equity markets played a spoilsport and pushed back the local unit to the negative territory.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened stronger at 86.96, went up to 86.88 but soon pared most of its gains and traded at 87.11 against the greenback, registering a loss of 5 paise from its previous closing level.

The rupee settled 13 paise higher at 87.06 against the US dollar on Wednesday, the third straight day of gain. In the preceding two sessions, the unit had gained 18 paise.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading marginally higher by 0.05 per cent at 104.30.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.58 per cent but stayed lower at USD 69.70 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 20.53 points, or 0.03 per cent, lower at 73,709.70 points, while the Nifty was down 10.75 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 22,326.55 points.