Indian rupee outperforms Asian peers at close on RBI's likely intervention

On February 10, the Indian rupee touched a new record low at 87.9563 against the US dollar due to the introduction of new tariff plans by Trump.

The likely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in India’s forex market has led to the Indian rupee outperforming Asian peers by the closing of the trading session on February 11.

According to the Bloomberg data, the Indian rupee appreciated 0.75 percent against the US dollar on February 11 and remained on the top of the list among its Asian peers. Apart from the Indian rupee, the Taiwanese Dollar also appreciated 0.01 percent against the US dollar.

The local currency gained almost 1 percent and closed at 86.8300 against the US dollar on February 11, as compared to 87.48 against the greenback close in the previous trading session. This was due to higher intervention by the RBI, currency experts said.

“The Indian Rupee recovered from record highs amid continued support from the RBI. RBI has sold heavily in the last two days with some quarters expecting the selling to be as high as $ 14-16 billion to help break the single-side upward movement caused due to constant selling of equities by FPIs and consequent dollar buying by them,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

On February 10, the Indian rupee touched a new record low at 87.9563 against the US dollar due to the introduction of new tariff plans by US President Donald Trump.

On February 9, US President Donald Trump said he would announce 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum.

Moneycontrol, on February 11, reported that Intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased sharply since the Indian Rupee started depreciating against the US Dollar amid global uncertainties.

This has led to the Rupee remaining the least volatile among major currencies in the last few months. According to the Bloomberg data, Indian Rupee depreciated 3.60 percent since September, which was lower compared to the Japanese Yen (-6.49 percent), Canadian Dollar (-5.71 percent), British Pound (-7.58 percent), Australian Dollar (-9.04 percent), and Euro (7.53 percent).

Also, the Indian currency is performing better against the Dollar compared to the South Korean Won which depreciated 9.83 percent and New Zealand Dollar depreciated 10.97 percent, Bloomberg data showed.