Rupee falls 3 paise to 88.78 against U.S. dollar in early trade

The rupee traded in a tight range and fell 3 paise to 88.78 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday (October 9, 2025) as investors eye US fiscal developments, trade tariff issues and FPI trends for further cues.

Forex traders said all positive trends in domestic equities supported the rupee at lower levels.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 88.76 and then rose to 88.78 against the US dollar, registering a fall of 3 paise from its previous close.

The rupee closed at 88.75 against the dollar on Wednesday. Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of treasury and executive director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said the Indian rupee is expected to trade in a narrow range of 88.70 to 88.80 with FPIs buying around $10.2 million mainly due to investment in IPOs.

Bhansali further said that RBI is present at 88.80, thus still not allowing the rupee to cross 88.80 against the US dollar.

“The US government shutdown and India’s trade tariff issue with the US are the main issues for the rupee to move in either direction,” he said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.20 per cent lower at 98.72.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.50% lower at $65.91 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex was up 201.23 points at 81,974.89 in early trade, while Nifty was up 63.5 points at 25,109.65.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth ₹81.21 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.