Rupee flat on hopes West Asia truce will hold

Mumbai: The Indian rupee was little changed through a day of steady gains in risk assets across most of Asia and Europe amid expectations the uneasy West Asian truce - and oil prices - will hold, lending some stability to the local unit that has cumulatively lost about a percentage point on average each month since the start of FY26.

Benchmark 10-year sovereign note yields, too, stayed below 7% for the second day running, retreating in lockstep with US bond yields that headed for their lowest level in about two weeks, Reuters reported.

The rupee closed at 95.69 per dollar Wednesday, barely changed from 95.68 in the previous session. Oil prices fell while dealers reported episodic interventions by the central bank that bolstered the local unit. "Markets were calm throughout the day as crude oil prices were falling. There were no further items of news of any further developments in the ongoing US-Iran war that helped stabilise the currency," said a dealer at a public sector bank.


Brent lost more than 3% to $96.5 per barrel, according to Reuters.

Across Japan and South Korea, stocks climbed to a record amid lower oil prices and big-bang AI investments, while pan-Europe stocks climbed amid an unmoved dollar index around 99.

The rupee opened at 95.75 and traded at its weakest level of 95.80 during the day, where dollar sales from state run banks, likely on behalf of the central bank, helped stem further losses. The currency traded between 95.80 and 95.64.

The rupee has weakened nearly 3% in FY27 so far.