Rupee Falls 3 Paise to 95.97 Amid Dollar Demand and Firm Crude Prices

The Indian rupee traded in a narrow range against the US dollar on Wednesday, falling by 3 paise to 95.97 due to persistent demand for dollars from state-run oil marketing companies and firm crude oil prices.

According to Anindya Banerjee, Head of Commodity and Currency Research at Kotak Securities, the Reserve Bank has been actively intervening in the market, with dealers reporting sizeable dollar sales by state-run banks on behalf of the RBI. This intervention is consistent with a 14.9 billion fall in India's foreign exchange reserves to $766 billion in the latest week.

The rupee opened at 95.87 and then fell to 95.97 against the US dollar, marking a decline from its previous close. The dollar index was trading higher by 0.04% at 101.40, while Brent crude prices rose by 0.82% to $103.43 per barrel in futures trade.