Rupee vs Dollar Today: The Indian rupee depreciated 21 paise to 94.97 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, November 2, due to firmness in the dollar. However, lower crude oil prices and a rally in the domestic stock market kept the losses in check.
The rupee opened at 94.90 against the US dollar in the interbank forex market before losing ground to trade at 94.97. On October 30, the rupee closed at 94.76.
Why is the Indian Rupee Falling?
The main reason for the rupee weakness is the general firmness seen in the dollar in the overseas market. This tends to weigh on emerging market currencies like the Indian rupee.
The dollar index rose 0.07% to 101.94 against a basket of the 6 most major currencies.
Crude Oil Prices Give Some Relief
But lower crude oil prices have helped keep the losses in check. Brent crude futures fell 3.07% to $109.95 per barrel.
India imports a large proportion of their crude oil needs and when oil prices rise, it tends to raise the overall import bill. This increases demand for dollars.
If crude oil prices remain low then it can help to bring down the import bill. However, how much of an impact this has depends on how oil prices are moving, and the demand for dollars.
India’s Forex Reserves Fall
India’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $1.269 billion to $719.748 billion during the week ended October 23, 2026, according to the latest figures from the Reserve Bank of India.
This was after falling by $5.011 billion in the previous week ending October 16.
The drop was mainly due to a reduction in the value of the RBI’s gold reserves, although foreign currency assets increased. As reserves can fluctuate based on valuations as well as the central bank’s activities in the market, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve spent all that money to defend the rupee.
Gold Falls Despite Weaker Rupee: Investors Await Key US Economic Data
Indian Stock Market Opens Higher
Indian stocks opened higher on Monday. The BSE Sensex gained 764.72 points to 75,216.80 and the NSE Nifty 50 added 201.40 points to 23,255.90 in early trade.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers of Indian stocks on Friday, buying shares worth ₹3,598.54 crore.
Although a rise in Indian stocks does not necessarily mean the rupee will strengthen. There are many factors that can come into play such as equity flows, international dollar demand, oil prices and more.
Rupee Forecast
Anindya Banerjee, Head of Commodity and Currency Research at Kotak NEO noted that USD/INR may trade between 94.40-95.60. He said that there have been steps taken by the RBI and market activity to keep the currency stable.
If crude oil prices continue to fall, this can benefit the rupee. But if oil prices start to climb once again, this could cause the dollar/rupee pair to move to the higher end of this range.
