Rupee Falls 50 Paise to Close at 91.47
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.25. It touched an intraday low of 91.48 against the greenback and a high of 91.21 against the dollar before ending the session at 91.47 compared to Friday’s close of 90.97.
By : Falaknaaz Syed
Update: 2026-03-02 15:21 GMT
Mumbai: The Indian rupee came under sharp pressure on Monday falling 50 paise to close at 91.47 per dollar, its steepest drop in more than a month as escalating Middle-East tensions pushed investors towards safe-haven assets such as the US dollar and gold.
Traders said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was intervening through state-run banks and forward markets to smooth volatility when the rupee touched 91.46 levels preventing a sharper slide. Concerns around potential disruption in the Strait of Hormuz pushed crude oil prices sharply higher, strengthening the US dollar and weighing on oil-import-dependent currencies like the rupee. The pressure was visible across Asian currencies, with market participants cutting risk exposure and increasing hedges amid geopolitical uncertainty. Positioning remained defensive, compounded by caution ahead of local market closures and elevated volatility in global markets.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.25. It touched an intraday low of 91.48 against the greenback and a high of 91.21 against the dollar before ending the session at 91.47 compared to Friday’s close of 90.97.
“In the near term, the rupee is likely to remain sensitive to crude price movements and geopolitical developments, with RBI actions expected to focus on containing disorderly moves while allowing market-driven price discovery,” said Abhishekh Goenka, founder, IFA Global.
Dilip Parmar, senior research analyst at HDFC Securities, said, “For now, the USDINR pair maintains a bullish bias, facing a ceiling at 92.00 while expected to find floor around 91.10.”
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.67 per cent higher at 98.22. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was up 8.01 per cent at 78.71 per barrel in futures trade.