The rupee rallied for the fourth straight session and rose 10 paise to 85.54 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Thursday (April 17, 2025) amid a renewed inflow of foreign funds in domestic equities and a weak American currency.<\/p>\n

However, subdued equity market sentiment and a slight recovery in crude oil prices put the local currency under pressure, according to forex traders.<\/p>\n

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 85.48 and slipped to 85.54 against the greenback in early deals, trading 10 paise higher from its previous closing level.<\/p>\n

The rupee closed Wednesday’s session with a gain of 16 paise at 85.64 against the dollar.<\/p>\n

The Indian currency strengthened by 104 paise in the preceding three sessions since the level of 86.68 against the greenback, its closing mark recorded on April 9.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading marginally higher by 0.14% at 99.28.<\/p>\n

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.96% to $66.48 per barrel in futures trade.<\/p>\n

Gold prices soared by \u20b91,650 to hit an all-time high of \u20b998,100 per 10 grams in the national capital on Wednesday amid a global rush for safe-haven bets triggered by an escalated trade war between the U.S. and China.<\/p>\n

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 333.47 points, or 0.43%, to 76,710.82, while the Nifty declined 127.55 points, or 0.54%, to 23,309.65.<\/p>\n

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth \u20b93,936.42 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data. <\/p>\n