Rupee Increases to 87.79 Against Dollar as Oil Prices Ease, Trade Deal Hopes Provide Support

Mumbai, October 24: In early trade today, the Indian rupee strengthened by 9 paise to 87.79 against the US dollar. The gain comes as crude oil prices ease and the US considers potential tariff reductions amid ongoing trade talks. At the interbank foreign exchange, the currency opened at 87.78 and traded marginally lower at 87.79. However, this is still an improvement from yesterday’s close of 87.88.

RBI’s Intervention Around 87.95 Level

The Reserve Bank of India continues to intervene around the 85.95 level to prevent the rupee from crossing the 88 mark against the US dollar. Additionally, expectations of a reduction in US tariffs, from the current 50% to 16%, are providing further support to the rupee’s strength.

Global Signals Mixed

Global signals for the rupee are still mixed as the US dollar index increased by 0.08% to 99.01, while Brent Crude futures declined 0.66% to USD 65.63 per barrel. Despite the easing in crude oil prices, they are still on track to mark a weekly gain. If that happens, it will be the biggest weekly rise since June 2025. It will be a weekly gain of around 7%, driven by the US sanctioning two major Russian oil exporters.

Sensex and Nifty Down

As of 10:40 AM, both the Sensex and Nifty were trading in the red. Sensex was down by 0.23%, or 197.14 points and was trading at 84,359.26. On the other hand, Nifty 50 was also down by 0.21% or 55 points and was trading at 25,836.40.

Overall, the future path for the rupee is likely to be dictated by crude oil price movements, the RBI’s intervention, and the trade talks between the US and India.

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