India
oi-Swastika Sruti
The
Indian
rupee
fell
to
an
all-time
low
on
Friday
and
saw
its
largest
weekly
decline
in
six
months.
Rupee
The
Indian
rupee
hit
a
record
low
and
saw
its
biggest
weekly
drop
in
six
months
due
to
foreign
investors
selling
Indian
stocks,
increased
demand
for
US
dollars,
and
the
Reserve
Bank
of
India’s
(RBI)
intervention.
The
rupee
lost
1.18%
for
the
week
and
2.3%
for
the
month,
while
foreign
investors
withdrew
nearly
$3.5
billion
from
Indian
equities
in
January.
Foreign
investors
have
been
selling
off
their
positions
in
Indian
stocks
and
importers
have
stepped
up
their
demand
for
US
dollars
in
order
to
shield
themselves
from
any
additional
losses.
The
Indian
rupee
fell
to
91.9650
against
the
US
dollar
at
the
day’s
low
point
and
ended
the
day
at
91.94,
0.34
per
cent
weaker
than
the
previous
close.
Over
the
course
of
the
entire
week,
the
Indian
rupee
lost
1.18
per
cent
value,
while
the
overall
loss
in
value
for
the
month
has
been
2.3
per
cent.
Rupee
Underperforms
Despite
Weak
Dollar
This
week,
the
coming-after
of
the
rupee
was
a
particularly
clear
demonstration
of
how
out-of-step
with
other
Asian
currencies
the
Indian
rupee
is.
Most
Asian
currencies
have
gained
modestly
against
the
U.S.
dollar
this
week,
following
a
drop
in
the
dollar
index
when
U.S.
President
Donald
Trump
made
comments
about
Greenland
and
then
modified
that
statement.
With
those
types
of
dollar
movements,
the
rupee
should
also
have
had
a
positive
response;
however,
it
did
not.
Experts
on
currency
markets
have
noted
that
this
behaviour
has
been
a
part
of
our
currency
marketplace
for
some
time.
“What
we
see
now
is
similar
to
what
we
have
been
seeing
for
most
of
2025;
being
under
a
constant
state
of
pressure
from
the
rupee”,
stated
Kunal
Kurani,
Vice
President
of
Mecklai
Financial
Services.
Foreign
Outflows
and
Hedging
Add
Pressure
Pressure
on
the
rupee
increased
steadily
throughout
the
week
and
month.
Foreign
investors
continued
to
reduce
their
exposure
to
Indian
equities,
leading
to
consistent
dollar
outflows.
At
the
same
time,
importers
and
large
companies
increased
their
dollar
hedging,
expecting
the
rupee
to
weaken
further.
Exporters
also
slowed
down
their
dollar
selling
in
the
forward
market.
This
reduced
the
supply
of
dollars
and
added
more
pressure
on
the
currency.
RBI
Steps
In,
But
Trend
Remains
Weak
The
Reserve
Bank
of
India
(RBI)
intervened
regularly
to
limit
the
fall
in
the
rupee.
Bankers
said
the
central
bank
stepped
in
strongly
at
least
twice
during
the
week
by
selling
dollars
in
the
spot
market
and
using
buy-sell
swap
operations
to
manage
liquidity.
While
these
steps
helped
slow
the
pace
of
the
fall,
they
were
not
enough
to
reverse
the
overall
trend.
Indian
stock
markets
also
remained
weak
due
to
heavy
foreign
selling.
The
Nifty
50
index
fell
2.5
per
cent
during
the
week.
In
January
alone,
foreign
investors
pulled
out
nearly
$3.5
billion
from
Indian
equities,
making
it
harder
for
the
RBI
to
stabilise
the
rupee.
