The Indian rupee declined by 7 paise to settle at 85.45 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, pressured by a firmer American currency and lacklustre domestic industrial output data for April.
Forex dealers attributed the rupee’s weakness to the US dollar gaining strength after a federal court blocked President Donald Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariff order. The development rekindled hopes of reducing global trade tensions, lending support to the greenback.
“The local unit was weighed down by higher crude oil prices overseas and disappointing domestic data on industrial output for April. However, inflow of foreign funds and buying trend in domestic equities capped the rupee's fall,” forex traders noted.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened weaker at 85.56 before recovering slightly to 85.45 per dollar—down 7 paise from its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee had ended the session 2 paise higher at 85.38. The US dollar index, which measures the currency’s strength against a basket of six major counterparts, was trading 0.40 per cent higher at 100.18.
Also read: Second-day fall for markets
Brent crude futures, the global benchmark for oil, rose 1.11 per cent to USD 65.62 per barrel, putting additional pressure on emerging market currencies, including the rupee. Meanwhile, domestic equity markets remained buoyant. The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 350.27 points, or 0.43 per cent, to trade at 81,662.59. The broader NSE Nifty rose 94.05 points, or 0.38 per cent, to reach 24,846.50.
Data from exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers on Wednesday, purchasing equities worth ₹4,662.92 crore.
On the macroeconomic front, concerns persisted after official data released on Wednesday revealed that India’s industrial production growth slowed to 2.7 per cent in April 2025. The deceleration was attributed to subdued performance across the manufacturing, mining and electricity sectors.
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