Rupee logs best day since May, up 97p

MUMBAI: The rupee staged its strongest single-day rise since May 2025 on Friday, closing at 89.27 per dollar, up 97 paise from Thursday’s 90.24. It briefly moved above the 90-per-dollar mark late in the session. The gain capped a third straight advance after a run of record lows earlier in the month.

The rupee saw sharp swings during the week ended Friday, sliding to successive record lows before staging a strong rebound on aggressive RBI intervention. Persistent foreign portfolio outflows and uncertainty over a potential US-India trade deal pushed the currency down to an intra-day low of 90.79 on Dec 15 and further to a lifetime low of 91.08 on Dec 16, with the rupee closing at 91.03. The trend reversed mid-week as the central bank stepped in, lifting the rupee to 90.38 on Dec 17, its biggest single-session gain in several months.

The recovery gathered pace, with the rupee rising for a third straight day to close at 89.27 on Dec 19, marking its strongest daily gain since May and its best weekly rise, at around 1.2%, since June.




RBI intervention drove the turnaround, traders said, citing heavy dollar sales near the 3:30 pm spot close, likely routed through a public sector bank. RBI had also stepped in earlier in the week when the rupee slid to an all-time low of 91.1. From that trough, the currency has rebounded about 2%, shifting near-term sentiment and deterring fresh speculative shorts.

“The Indian rupee has ascended to the top of the Asian currency rankings, fuelled by a clutch of corporate dollar inflows and a pivot back toward risk-on sentiment. With the RBI likely engaging in proactive intervention, the short-term outlook for USD-INR has turned bearish. Key technical levels to watch include support at 89.25 and a ceiling at 89.90,” said Dilip Parmar of HDFC Securities.

Dealers said that the suddenness and the scale of the intervention was a clear pointer that the central bank sees the recent bout of volatility as an outcome of speculative attack on the domestic currency.

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