Mumbai

The Indian rupee weakened for the fourth straight trading session on Wednesday, touching a fresh all-time intraday low of 95.80 against the US dollar amid elevated crude oil prices and continued global risk aversion linked to the West Asia crisis.

At the interbank foreign exchange market in Mumbai, the rupee opened at 95.52—16 paise stronger than its previous close—but later slipped sharply to its weakest-ever intraday level of 95.80.

Forex analysts said multiple factors are weighing on the domestic currency, including rising oil prices, foreign institutional outflows, inflation concerns, and uncertainty surrounding stalled talks between the United States and Iran.

Anuj Choudhary said the rupee came under pressure from surging crude prices, a stronger dollar, and continued foreign investor selling.

He projected the USD-INR spot to trade in the 95.45–96.15 range.

Meanwhile:

• The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was trading near 98.46, up 0.29 per cent.
• Brent Crude was trading around USD 107.73 per barrel.
• Foreign institutional investors sold Indian equities worth Rs 1,959.39 crore on Tuesday.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, India’s retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), edged up to 3.48 per cent in April, partly due to higher prices of gold, silver jewellery, and select food items.

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The government’s recent decision to raise import duties on gold and silver to 15 per cent is aimed at reducing precious metal imports and easing pressure on foreign exchange reserves, though analysts say it may have only a limited impact on demand for the US dollar.