Rupee recovers in afternoon trade on likely RBI intervention

Rupee

Indian rupee recovered losses during afternoon trade on May 9, on likely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to defend currency from depreciating sharply as border tensions between India and Pakistan escalated.

At 2:40 PM, the Rupee was trading at 85.5225 against the US dollar, up 19 paise compared to previous close of 85.7175 against the greenback.

“RBI has been selling dollars in the spot market since morning to avoid sharp depreciation in rupee,” one dealer with a state-owned bank said.

Indian rupee had opened 14 paise down on May 9 after border tensions between India and Pakistan flared up, after falling around 1.04 percent in a single day, the most in almost three years. Some money market participants are attributing the steep depreciation to the escalating military tensions between Indian and Pakistan.

Tensions between the two countries rose after India retaliated to the Pahalgam terror attack by launching precision strikes on terror sites across the border through a mission codenamed 'Operation Sindoor'.