The Indian Rupee concluded Friday’s trading session relatively stable against the American dollar, despite experiencing some fluctuations throughout the day. The domestic currency settled unchanged at a provisional 88.69, having opened at 88.60 and trading between a high of 88.59 and a low of 88.78 in the interbank foreign exchange market. This resilience was noteworthy, as it managed to offset pressures from a weaker domestic stock market and a stronger U.S. dollar globally, benefiting partly from a drop in crude oil prices.
This steady performance on Friday follows a significant dip on Thursday, when the rupee depreciated by 47 paise to close at 88.69 against the U.S. dollar. This prior decline was triggered by comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who indicated that U.S. inflation remained above target levels and highlighted uncertainties within the labor market. His remarks dampened expectations for further interest rate reductions in the upcoming December policy meeting.
Notably, the U.S. Federal Reserve did proceed with a 25-basis-point interest rate cut, a move that was largely anticipated by market participants.
In the broader financial landscape, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, saw a marginal increase of 0.04%, reaching 99.39. Concurrently, Brent crude, a key global oil benchmark, experienced a decrease of 0.68%, with futures trading at $64.56 per barrel.