Rupee falls 21 paise to 91.29 against U.S. dollar in early trade

The rupee depreciated 21 paise to 91.29 against the U.S. dollar on Monday (March 2, 2026), amid higher crude oil prices, a strong American currency and intense global volatility due to the escalated Middle East tension.

Negative equity market sentiment and massive withdrawal of foreign funds also weighed on the Indian currency, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.23 and declined further to 91.29 against the greenback in initial deals, trading 21 paise down from its previous closing level.

On Friday (February 27, 2026), the rupee lost 17 paise to settle at 91.08 against the dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.22% higher at 97.78.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was up 3.91% at 76.78 per barrel in futures trade. Analysts said that crude prices soared after the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes against Iran.

In the latest strike, the U.S. and Israel forces pounded targets across Iran on Sunday (March 1), dropping massive bombs on the country’s ballistic missile sites and wiping out warships. The attack was intensified after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Experts say that India faces the risk of a sharp increase in its import bill with the rising crude prices in the international market, as the country’s 85% fuel requirement is met through imports.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex tumbled 691.47 points or 0.85% to 80,595.72, while Nifty tanked 240.95 points or 0.96% to 24,937.70 in early trade.

On Friday (February 27), foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth ₹7,536.36 crore, according to exchange data.

According to the government data released on Friday (February 27), following a revamp of the GDP calculation framework, the country’s economic growth has been projected at 7.6% in the currency fiscal.

The latest RBI data released on Friday showed India’s forex reserve dropped by $2.119 billion to $723.608 billion during the week ended February 20. The overall reserves had jumped by $8.663 billion to an all-time high of $725.727 billion in the previous reporting week.