Rupee closes at historic low of 91.03 against US dollar

Rupee dials 91

Indian rupee ended at fresh record low on December 16 due to persistent demand for dollar due to delay in the trade deal between US and India, outflows of funds by the foreign investors, and further widening of the current account deficit, currency experts said.

The local currency ended at 91.0325 against the US dollar, as compared to 90.7900 at open and 90.7337 against the greenback at previous close.

"The Buy Sell Swap, rupee shortage due to tax outflow, speculators oil buying, trade deal not-happening, exporters holding dollars FPIs not bringing in money and having outflows, stake sale taking away $50 billion from market, debt selling are all the reasons for fall in rupee," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

With the current fall in rupee, it is worst performing currency in Asia with a depreciation of 5.96 percent YTD, after Indonesian Rupiah which depreciated 3.53 percent, Philippine Peso by 1.54 percent, South Korean Won by 0.16 percent, and Hong Kong Dollar by 0.13 percent.

Further, Kunal Sodhani, Head of Treasury at Shinhan Bank India said just from November 19 till December 16, so in less than a month, Rupee has depreciated by 2.66 percent. "FPIs have been net sellers in Indian equities worth more than $18 billion so far in 2025, making India one of the worst-hit markets in terms of portfolio outflows."

The spillover of the currency depreciation was also seen on the equity markets, which ended lower for the second consecutive day on December 16.

On the back of weak global cues, Nifty opened below 26,000 and traded in negative zone throughout the session with last-hour profit booking dragging the index near 25,850.

At close, the Sensex was down 533.50 points or 0.63 percent at 84,679.86, and the Nifty was down 167.20 points or 0.64 percent at 25,860.10. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were down nearly 1 percent each.

Indian rupee lost 1 percent in the last five trading sessions against US dollar as it crossed 91 mark for the first time today, hitting record low of 91.08 per dollar, during the session.

Market participants expect some intervention in the foreign exchange market from RBI as they have sharply intervened twice in 2025.

"For USDINR, 89.80 acts as a base while levels of 91.60 can be tested," Sodhani added.