According to forex analysts, escalated tariff tensions worldwide continued to fuel the foreign capital outflow, but a weaker American currency index and lower level of crude oil prices added strength to the local unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened stronger at 87.13 and touched a high of 87.03 against the greenback in early deals, registering a sharp gain of 19 paise from its previous closing level.
The rupee settled 1 paisa lower at 87.22 against the US dollar on Wednesday (March 12), a day after logging a recovery of 10 paise on Tuesday (March 11) as it pared the steep loss of 36 paise in the preceding session (Monday, March 10).
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.01% at 103.57.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 0.01% lower at $70.90 per barrel in futures trade.
Domestic equity market traded positive with the 30-share BSE Sensex rising 23.47 points or 0.03% to 74,053.23 and the broader Nifty gaining 16.95 points, or 0.08%, to 22,487.45.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,627.61 crore on a net basis on Wednesday (March 12), according to exchange data.
The latest government data released on Wednesday (March 12) showed India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation slipped to seven-month low of 3.61% in February due to easing prices of vegetables, eggs, and other protein-rich items, creating space for the RBI to go for another cut in interest rate next month.
Another set of data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that the growth in Index of Industrial Production (IIP), a measure of performance of industries, accelerated to 5% in January 2025, driven by a rebound in manufacturing activity.
On the global front, President Donald Trump has challenged US allies by increasing tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25% as he vowed to take back wealth ”stolen” by other countries.
In a quick retaliation, Canada imposed stiff taxes on a range of US products from textiles and water heaters to beef and bourbon.
Canada said it will place 25% reciprocal tariffs on steel products and also raise taxes on a host of items such as tools, computers and servers, display monitors, sports equipment and cast-iron products.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has also said it will raise tariffs on American beef, poultry, bourbon and motorcycles, peanut butter and jeans.
