The Reserve Bank of India likely intervened to support the rupee on Friday as worries over steep U.S. trade tariffs and foreign portfolio outflows from equities kept up the pressure, five traders told Reuters.
The rupee was at 87.5150, up 0.1% in early trading after opening nearly flat at 87.60, sidestepping losses in regional currencies.
State-run banks were spotted offering dollars “right from 87.60 levels,” and most likely on behalf of the RBI, a trader at a Mumbai-based bank said.
Separately, two Singapore-based FX traders said that the central bank had also likely stepped into the non-deliverable forwards market to prevent rupee depreciation.
On the day, Asian currencies were down between 0.1% to 0.5% while the dollar index was hovering at the 100 mark.
