Rupee Slips 20 Paise to 95.38 Against US Dollar as Greenback Strengthens
The Indian rupee depreciated by 20 paise to close at 95.38 against the US dollar on Monday, July 6, 2026, as the dollar index rose to 101.12, up 0.26 per cent, reflecting a stronger greenback that weighed on emerging market currencies.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.25 and traded in a range of 95.22 to 95.48 during the session before settling at 95.38 (provisional), down from its previous close of 95.18 on Friday, July 3, 2026, when it had appreciated 17 paise.
Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset ShareKhan, attributed the decline to a firming US dollar, as markets continued to price in a rate hike this year. He noted that positive domestic markets and weakness in crude oil prices provided support to the rupee.
Mr. Choudhary added that hedging demand from importers may cap sharp upside, and traders may take cues from the ISM services PMI data from the US. He expected the USD-INR spot price to trade in a range of 95.10 to 95.60.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded lower by 0.76 per cent at $71.57 per barrel in futures trade, which tends to benefit the rupee as India imports a significant portion of its oil.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex jumped 521.16 points to close at 78,285.07, while the Nifty rose 159.50 points to 24,430.35, indicating positive investor sentiment.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers on Friday, purchasing equities worth ₹1,355.33 crore on a net basis, according to exchange data. Forex traders noted that whenever fresh foreign inflows enter the country, the central bank is likely to use the opportunity to rebuild its reserve position rather than allowing the rupee to strengthen too much.
India's forex reserves dropped by $5.654 billion to $666.933 billion during the week ended June 26, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the kitty had jumped by $963 million to $672.587 billion.
The reserves had reached an all-time high of $728.494 billion during the week ended February 27 this year, before the onset of the West Asia conflict, which led to several weeks of decline as the rupee came under pressure and the RBI intervened in the forex market through dollar sales.
