Overview
- Hours after the Jio Platforms public offering opened for subscription on Wednesday, October 21, foreign currency inflows helped the rupee gain about 48–53 paise and reach a six‑week high near Rs 94.4 per dollar.
- The Jio issue, sized at roughly Rs 30,213 crore, was fully subscribed within hours and mechanically increased rupee supply as overseas bidders converted dollars to pay for allotments.
- Early on Thursday, October 22, the rupee gave back part of the move and slipped to about 94.50 as Brent crude rose above $110 per barrel and domestic equity indices weakened.
- The Reserve Bank of India tightened rules to curb speculative dollar demand by cutting the no‑underlying‑exposure threshold for FX derivatives from $100 million to $5 million, banning rebooking of cancelled rupee‑linked derivative contracts, and requiring foreign‑exchange risk reserves for specified products.
- Analysts say the recovery’s durability hinges on continued IPO and portfolio inflows, ongoing RBI intervention, crude price direction and US dollar/Treasury moves because higher oil costs would raise India’s import bill and squeeze companies and consumers through higher fuel and input prices.