Rupee Declines 31 Paise, Closes at 95.67 Against US Dollar

Rupee Depreciates 31 Paise to Close at 95.67 Against US Dollar

The rupee depreciated 31 paise to close at 95.67 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, following the US Trade Representative's proposal to impose 12.5 per cent additional duties on Indian imports, citing labour violations.

Market participants pointed to strong dollar demand, surging crude oil prices, geopolitical tensions, and relentless foreign capital outflows as contributing factors to the decline in investor sentiment. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.34, up 0.13 per cent.

The US Trade Representative has proposed 12.5 per cent additional duties on 54 countries, including India, for failing to prohibit the import of goods produced with forced labour. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched two separate Section 301 investigations on March 11 and 12, 2026, covering 60 economies over concerns related to forced labour and excess industrial capacity. The government said India is engaged with the US on the Section 301 investigations over concerns related to forced labour and excess industrial capacity.

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India is also "parallelly" engaged with the US for finalisation of an interim trade agreement, a framework for which was announced through a joint statement on February 7. The RBI Monetary Policy Committee meeting is scheduled for June 3-5, and the six-member MPC, headed by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, will announce its decision on June 5.

The domestic equity market front saw the Sensex drop 303.67 points to settle at 74,346.17, while the Nifty was down 77.95 points to 23,405.60. Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 8,362.92 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Note: The table above shows the comparison of various market indicators.

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