INR vs USD: Rupee recovers to 96.3 against US dollar in early trade after 9 days of record low; details here

At the opening bell, the Indian rupee recovered 61 paise from its record low closing price to open at 96.25 against the US dollar on Thursday. As of 9:38 am (IST), the Indian currency was trading at 96.33 against the greenback, compared to the previous market close levels, according to Investing.com data.

Forex traders are still cautious in understanding the geopolitical risk with any potential flare-up in the West Asia tensions or rise in crude, according to a PTI report.

The recovery in crude oil prices has also had a ripple effect on the demand for the Indian rupee, and considering India imports 80% of its crude oil from foreign countries, especially from the Gulf nations, any positive move tends to support the domestic currency rate.

Investing.com data also showed that the global benchmark Brent crude oil prices were trading 0.45% higher at $105.87 per barrel (bbl) as of 9:41 am (IST) in morning trade, compared to the previous market close level of $105.48 per bbl after the evening market session close.

Amid the marginal recovery of the Indian rupee, NSE data released on Wednesday evening showed that the foreign investors kept their selling trend, shedding ₹1,597 crore worth of assets in a single day. While FIIs were sellers, the domestic investors purchased ₹1,968.35 worth of assets across exchanges.

How is USD performing today?

Data collected from the Bloomberg US dollar spot index (DYX) showed that the greenback was trading 0.10% higher at 99.187 as of 12:11 am (ET) in the United States, compared to the previous market close.

The dollar demand remained higher on Thursday’s market as investors remained concerned over the heightened uncertainty in West Asia. Latest reports suggest that the United States is in the ‘final stages of Iran’ as President Donald Trump awaits a positive response from the negotiators in West Asia.

Trump’s earlier comments suggest that if Iran does not come up with a potential peace deal proposal by the end of this week, the United States is likely to carry out a “large-scale” offensive on Iran, risking further escalations in the West Asia conflict.