Rupee rebounds sharply from record low, gains 1.51 to 93.19 against US dollar

The Indian rupee staged a strong recovery on Thursday, rebounding 151 paise or 1.6% to trade at ₹93.19 against the US dollar , bouncing back sharply from its recent record lows, driven primarily by decisive intervention from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) .

The rebound comes amid a series of coordinated policy actions by the RBI aimed at curbing speculative pressures and restoring stability. The central bank capped banks' Net Open Position in the onshore forward delivery market at USD 100 million , with compliance mandated by April 10 . It also prohibited banks from offering rupee non-deliverable forward (NDF) contracts to both resident and non-resident corporate clients, a move seen as an attempt to plug regulatory gaps that had allowed speculative positioning to migrate outside the traditional interbank framework.

The domestic currency started Thursday's session at ₹93.53 per dollar, compared with Monday's close of ₹94.83, and later extended gains to touch ₹93.15 at its intraday peak. The rupee had breached the ₹95 level last week and settled at a historic low of ₹94.84 on Friday before the RBI stepped in.

Despite the sharp rebound, structural pressures persist . Brent crude surged to USD 106.06 per barrel , up nearly 5%, adding to India's import burden. Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth ₹8,331.15 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, and March saw global funds withdraw around $12 billion from Indian equities, the steepest monthly outflow on record . The Sensex tumbled 1,312 points while the Nifty slipped 410 points in early trade.

Since the outbreak of the West Asia war on February 28, 2026 , the rupee has depreciated over 4%, and during the full fiscal year ended March 2026, it declined nearly 10% against the US dollar , one of its worst annual performances .