INR vs USD: Rupee falls 139 paise to 94.90 against US dollar amid surging crude prices; check details

Crude prices rose to over $105 per barrel (bbl) after President Donald Trump rejected Iran's response to the United States’ peace proposal.

A strengthening US dollar and steep FPI outflows further pressured the local unit, according to forex traders.

However, while the rupee has declined, it's still far from its record low of 95.4 against the dollar, which it hit last week.

In the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 94.97 against the US dollar before inching up to 94.90, down a staggering 139 paise from its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee pared its losses and ended with a sharp gain of 71 paise at 93.51 against the greenback.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 98.20, up 0.20%.

Iran has sent its response to the latest US ceasefire proposal and wants negotiations to focus on permanently ending the war, Iran's state-run media said on Sunday.

President Donald Trump rejected Iran's proposal to end the months-long war as "totally unacceptable" without sharing details, even as a key Republican leader urged him to consider the "military option".

Domestically, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, May 10, urged Indians to curb non-essential foreign travel, postpone gold purchases, and use public transport and electric vehicles to help conserve foreign exchange amid the ongoing West Asia conflict.

Furthermore, India’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $7.79 billion to $690.69 billion in the week ended May 1, according to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Globally, Brent crude oil futures for delivery in July jumped as much as 4.64% to hit an intraday high of $105.99/bbl on Monday, compared to the closing price of $101.29/bbl in the previous session.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contract advanced as much as 5.19% to reach the session’s peak of $100.37/bbl.

On May 11, the Indian Benchmark indices were trading in the negative territory, with the SENSEX tumbling by as much as 1.5% to hit an intraday low of 76,165.57. Meanwhile, NIFTY touched the session’s low of 23,845.30.

On Friday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold stocks worth ₹4,110.60 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth ₹6,748.13 crore on a net basis, according to exchange data.