Rupee opens 21 paise down at 86.45 against dollar ahead of RBI monetary policy

Rupee

The rupee opened 21 paise down on April 9 ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) first monetary policy of the FY26, with the central bank widely expected to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) as global trade turmoil worsens.

The weak opening is due to risk aversion, as the US tariffs kick in, experts said.

The rupee opened at 86.45 against the US dollar against a close of 86.24 in the previous trading session.

The United States is going ahead with its threat of imposing 104 percent tariff on Chinese imports, worsening the trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

The White House confirmed that the new tariff structure follows through on President Donald Trump's ultimatum to Beijing to roll back its retaliatory 34 per cent duties on American goods.

According to the Moneycontrol’s poll of 21 economists, treasury heads and fund managers, Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI is likely to cut repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) in the monetary policy today.

“Given the current market scenario, we now expect the rupee to face strong resistance around the 86.40–86.50 levels, while 85.70 is likely to act as a key support,” said Amit Pabari, managing director at CR Forex Advisors.