INR vs USD: Rupee recovers to 95.8 against US dollar over cooling oil prices; details here

After snapping its 9-day downtrend on Thursday’s market, the Indian currency strengthened against the US dollar to 96 on May 21, after opening around 96.3 against the greenback. The domestic currency witnessed further support on a slightly improved market sentiment on May 22.

As of 11:21 am (IST), the Indian rupee was trading 0.18% stronger at 95.86 against the US dollar on Friday’s market, compared to 96.03 at the previous currency market close, according to Investing.com data.

How much has Rupee lost in one month?

The data further shed light on the domestic currency, which has lost 2.2% of its value in the last one month, and nearly 6% of its value in the past three months amid the heightened geopolitical risk in the market.

In situations of heightened risks, global investors and currency traders are likely to pull out money from their emerging market bets, as they shift their investments into other safe-haven assets like gold or the benchmark US dollar.

Data collected from the Bloomberg US dollar spot index (DYX) showed that the greenback was trading 0.03% lower at 99.227 as of 1:35 am (ET) in the United States on Friday, compared to the previous market close.

Although the US dollar was trading lower, the prices remained elevated near the 100 psychological mark as the tensions remained heightened over the West Asia conflict amid risks of further escalation of the war.

Along with the subdued dollar rate, the crude oil prices cooled down to $104 per bbl during the early market hours on Friday, May 22, as investors pinned hopes on a potential peace deal over the upcoming weekend.

As of 11:28 pm (IST), the benchmark Brent crude oil prices were trading at $105.30 per bbl, compared to the previous market close of $104.93 per bbl, as per Investing.com data.

Latest media reports showed that the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that there have been “some good signs” that the United States could finally reach a deal with Iran as the West Asian mediators push for a peace deal proposal amid a fragile ceasefire agreement.