Rupee falls 8 paise to settle at 85.77 against U.S. dollar

The rupee weakened by 8 paise to close at 85.77 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, March 27, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reutes

The rupee weakened by 8 paise to close at 85.77 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Thursday (March 27, 2025), as month-end dollar demand from importers, coupled with the greenback’s recovery against major currencies, weighed on the rupee.

The U.S. dollar strengthened after U.S. president Donald Trump late on Wednesday (March 26, 2025) announced long-promised 25% tariffs on automotive imports, set to take effect on April 2.

Forex dealers said the rupee is also facing renewed pressure on liquidity constraints, concerns over reciprocal tariff implementations and month-end demand for the U.S. currency from importers.

However, positive domestic markets and foreign fund inflows cushioned the downside.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.90 and touched the high of 85.73 against the greenback during the day.

The unit later turned volatile and hit the day’s low of 85.93 before ending the session at 85.77 (provisional) against the dollar, 8 paise lower from its previous closing level.

On Wednesday, the rupee settled higher by 3 paise at 85.69 against the U.S. dollar.

Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan said, rupee is expected to trade with a slight negative bias on month-end dollar demand from importers and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).

“Elevated crude oil prices and a bounceback in the U.S. dollar may also pressurise the rupee. However, strong domestic markets and FII inflows may support the rupee at lower levels. Traders may take cues from final GDP data from the US. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 85.60 to 86.10,” Choudhary added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.11% at 104.43.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.46% to $73.45 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 317.93 points, or 0.41%, to settle at 77,606.43, while the Nifty gained 105.10 points, or 0.45%, to close at 23,591.95 points.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth ₹2,240.55 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.