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The Indian rupee weakened for the fourth consecutive session and closed 8 paise lower at 90.28 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday (January 5, 2026), hit by a stronger US currency and weak equity market sentiment.
Forex traders said renewed geopolitical uncertainties following the US military intervention in Venezuela boosted demand for the dollar worldwide, although falling crude oil prices supported the Indian currency at lower levels.
At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 90.21 and touched an intra-day low of 90.50 during the session and then ended at 90.28 (provisional) against the greenback, 8 paise weaker than its previous close.
It was the fourth consecutive day of decline for the Indian currency, which has declined by 53 paise since December 30, 2025, when it closed at 89.75 per dollar.
The rupee closed 22 paise lower at 90.20 against the US dollar on Friday (January 2), a day after falling by 10 paise on Thursday (January 1). It had fallen by 13 paise on the last day of the last calendar year.
Anuj Chaudhary, Research Analyst, Commodity Research, Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said the rupee depreciated on Monday (January 5) amid geopolitical tensions between the US and Venezuela.
US dollar index strengthened amid safe-haven demand, however, weakness in crude oil prices and FII inflows on Friday (January 2) supported the rupee.
Mr Chaudhary said falling crude oil prices may provide support to the rupee at lower levels. “Any RBI intervention may also support the rupee. Traders may take cues from ISM Manufacturing PMI data, US USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in the range of 90-90.60,” he said.
America has ousted President Nicolas Maduro by conducting military operations in Venezuela. President Donald Trump said the US would “run” the South American country and exploit its vast oil reserves to sell to other countries.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.24% higher at 98.39.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.36% lower at $60.53 a barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex fell 322.39 points or 0.38% to close at 85,439.62, while Nifty fell 78.25 points or 0.30% to 26,250.30.
According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors became net buyers by taking equity worth Rs 289.80 crore on Friday (January 2).
The latest RBI data released on Friday (January 2) showed that India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $3.293 billion to $696.61 billion in the week ended December 26.
The total amount rose by $4.368 billion to $693.318 billion in the previous reporting week.
published – January 05, 2026 05:15 PM IST
