Indian Rupee Remains Under Pressure Near ₹95.73 Per Dollar

The Indian rupee traded near 95.73 against the US dollar on Tuesday, hovering close to the lower end of the narrow 95.45-95.75 range it has held over the past two weeks. The currency was little changed from the previous session, with gains capped by steady dollar demand from importers and corporates, along with maturing derivative contracts.

Elevated crude oil prices continued to weigh on the rupee. Brent crude has climbed sharply over the past two weeks amid uncertainty tied to the United States' expanded sanctions on Iran, a development that has kept energy markets on edge. Because India imports the vast majority of its crude needs, higher oil prices widen the country's import bill and increase dollar demand from oil marketing companies, a dynamic that typically pressures the rupee.

Traders said expectations of continued intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have helped keep the currency range-bound, limiting sharper swings even as underlying pressure from oil and importer demand persisted. The RBI has not disclosed the scale of any recent intervention.

The dollar, meanwhile, stayed close to three-month lows against a basket of major currencies, despite some safe-haven buying following Washington's expanded Iran sanctions. Plans by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to increase buybacks of longer-dated securities have helped ease upward pressure on US borrowing costs, contributing to the dollar's broader softness, which has offered the rupee some offsetting support even as domestic demand factors weighed on it.

Foreign portfolio flows provided a further cushion. Overseas investors have bought more than $2.5 billion of Indian equities in August, marking a shift after nearly $28 billion in outflows over the preceding four months.

Over the past month, the rupee has strengthened 0.04%, though it remains down 9.24% over the past year.

Currency traders are watching the trajectory of Brent crude amid the Iran situation, the pace and scale of RBI intervention, and whether foreign portfolio inflows continue, as the key drivers likely to determine whether the rupee holds within its recent range or comes under renewed pressure in the sessions ahead.