Rupee opens at 85.75 against the dollar, down 24 paisa following Trump's tariff rollout

Rupee

The rupee opened 24 paise down on April 3, hours after US President Donald Trump announced a 26 percent reciprocal tariff on India under his global tit-for-tat levy plan.

The local currency opened at 85.75 against the dollar after ending the previous session at 85.51.

The dollar index held steady at 103.023 in the early trade, with experts attributing it to more aggressive than expected tariffs.

"Flows in debt plus RBI’s absence in markets buying dollar is keeping the rupee stronger. Expecting 86 to come soon," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of treasury and executive director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Trump unveiled global reciprocal tariffs at a White House event. The United States would slap a 26 percent tax on Indian goods, 34 percent on imports from China and 20 percent on the European Union.

“India, very, very tough. Very, very tough. The Prime Minister just left. He's a great friend of mine, but I said, ‘You're a friend of mine, but you’re not treating us right.’ They charge us 52 per cent. You have to understand, we charge them almost nothing, for years and years and decades, and it was only seven years ago, when I came in, we started with China and we took in hundreds of billions of dollars from China in tariffs,” Trump said.

Weaker Asian currencies will trade in the direction of the prevailing trend and also those currencies of the countries hit hard by the tariff or export-oriented countries such as China, Vietnam, Thailand, and South Korea, MUFG Global Markets Research report said.

Abhishek Goenka, Founder & CEO of India Forex & Asset Management (IFA Global), said the rupee is expected to trade in the 85.60-85.90 range against the dollar.