Overview
- India’s currency jumped to close around 89.66 on Friday after an intraday high near 89.25, reversing from record lows above 91 earlier in the week for its strongest single-day gain in over three years.
- Dealers said the Reserve Bank of India sold dollars aggressively in spot and forward markets to break one-way depreciation, with some estimating multi‑billion‑dollar interventions not officially confirmed.
- Corporate dollar inflows, a softer US inflation print and Brent crude near $59 a barrel supported the recovery as domestic equities also advanced.
- Officials reiterated that policy aims to curb excessive volatility rather than target a level, and EAC-PM member Sanjeev Sanyal said the slide has not fed domestic inflation and need not signal economic stress.
- Market participants warned the bounce could be tentative given persistent foreign portfolio outflows and unresolved US tariff and trade uncertainties that have weighed on sentiment and flows.