Mumbai: The Indian rupee closed at 92.43/$ on Monday, within touching distance of its all-time low of 92.48/$1, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) defended the currency via state-run banks, traders said. Persistent central bank interventions should provide support to the rupee this month, they added. Monday’s relative stability in the rupee, which has lost about 1.5% since the start of the Iran war two weeks ago, coincided with a late turnaround in Indian equity assets that rebounded from sub-23,000 lows in the Nifty to demonstrate a risk-on appetite among Dalal Street investors after the latest rout.
The rupee value has depreciated in March as the US-Israeli war on Iran pushed up oil prices, which are currently trading at $105 per barrel.
“The central bank is aggressively defending the currency. I think RBI would try to contain the pace of deprecation until March-end and keep the currency between 92.50/$ and 91.80/$. But if oil prices remain $80-90 per barrel, we may see the currency hit 94/$ by June,” said Sajal Gupta, head of forex and commodities, Nuvama.