The rupee on Friday climbed to a 10-week high of ₹86 against the U.S. dollar due to a surge in foreign inflows into domestic equities and debt markets, analysts said. The domestic currency was trading at ₹85.89 a dollar on January 9, 2025.
The rupee surged nearly 0.1% on Friday, making it the eighth consecutive day of appreciation against the dollar. It closed at ₹85.98 against the U.S. dollar.
On a weekly basis, the rupee surged 1.1% with the appreciation on Friday.
“The rupee’s gain was supported by stronger-than-expected trade data and a rise in foreign exchange reserves following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) USD/INR swap intervention,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
“The central bank’s efforts have paid off, with the rupee emerging as the top performer among Asian currencies so far this month,” he said, adding that in the short term, the rupee is expected to receive support at 85.70 and resistance at 86.45.
Jateen Trivedi, Vice President, Research Analyst — Commodity and Currency, LKP Securities said, “Rupee strengthened as FII inflows surged with strong buying figures in recent days.” “The Fed’s decision to hold rates steady and its forecast for lower interest rates ahead pulled the dollar down, providing significant support to the rupee but major capital market strengthening gives rupee the strong push higher,” he added. Equity markets also reported gains on Friday, with frontline indices rising by 0.7%.
The NSE Nifty extended its bullish run for a fifth consecutive session, closing higher by 159 points, or 0.69%, at 23,350. NSE cash market volumes surged dramatically by 53% from the previous day, reaching their highest level since November 25, 2024.
The S&P BSE Sensex rose 557 points, or 0.73%, at 76,906.
“For the week, the Nifty registered a robust 4.26% gain, marking its strongest weekly performance since February 2021,” said Devarsh Vakil – Head of Prime Research, HDFC Securities.
Sectorally, most indices closed in positive territory, with Media, Oil & Gas, PSU Banks, and Pharma leading the gains. Metal and Consumer Durables were the only sectors to close lower.
“The mid and small-cap segments mirrored the overall market’s strength, also extending their winning streak to five sessions,” he added.
The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose by 1.38%, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index surged by 2.06%.
“For the week, the Midcap 100 index gained a remarkable 7.74%—its best weekly performance since April 2020—while the Smallcap 100 index soared by 8.64%, its strongest weekly gain since June 2020,” Mr. Vakil added.
According to analysts, the underlying trend of Nifty continues to remain positive.
Published – March 22, 2025 12:04 am IST
