Mumbai: The rupee depreciated 48 paise to close at 87.66 against the US dollar on Monday, as sustained foreign fund outflows and trade tariff uncertainties dented investors’ sentiment.
Forex traders said US President Donald Trump’s tariffs triggered fresh concerns over a much wider disruption in the global trade landscape.
The domestic currency declined during the day on demand for dollars from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 87.21 against the greenback, touching an intra-day low of 87.73 against the American currency.
At the end of Monday’s trading session, the domestic unit was at 87.66, down by 48 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee recovered sharply and ended 47 paise higher at 87.18 against the US dollar.
“We expect the rupee to remain weak amid uncertainty over India-US trade deal and FII outflows. However, weakness in the US dollar amid chatter over rate cut expectations in the US amid weak economic data may support the rupee at lower levels,” said Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst, commodities and currencies, Mirae Asset Sharekhan.
“Traders may take cues from factory orders data from the US. Investors may remain cautious ahead of the RBI monetary policy decision this week,” Choudhary said, adding that USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 87.40 to 88.
The RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra-headed rate-setting panel on Monday started the three-day deliberations to decide the next bi-monthly monetary policy.
The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is scheduled to announce the next bi-monthly policy rate on Wednesday (August 6).
Meanwhile, Brent crude prices fell 1.06 per cent to USD 68.93 per barrel in futures trade, as OPEC+ agreed for a production hike in September this year, while concerns over a cooling US economy and trade tariffs also weighed.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.37 per cent to 98.77.
Dilip Parmar, Senior Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said: “The Indian rupee has weakened primarily due to foreign fund outflows and liquidity adjustments by the Reserve Bank of India following the maturity of a USD 5 billion USD/INR swap.”
The RBI on Monday returned USD 5 billion to banks as part of a forex swap deal.
Parmar said the forward premium rates also jumped to reflect the potential interest rate differential between the US and India after Friday’s jobs data.
“The US dollar fell on Friday amid disappointing economic data from the US. According to the non-farm payrolls report, the US added 74,000 jobs in July 2025 vs forecast of 106,000 jobs. The June data was also revised lower unexpectedly to 14,000 vs initial projection of 147,000 jobs,” Choudhary said.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 418.81 points, or 0.52 per cent, to close at 81,018.72, while the Nifty rose 157.40 points, or 0.64 per cent, to settle at 24,722.75.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,566.51 crore on a net basis on Monday, according to exchange data.
