Rupee falls 6 paise to 94.69 against U.S. dollar in early trade

The rupee fell 6 paise to 94.69 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Tuesday (June 23, 2026) as the greenback strengthened further to hover around its 13-month high. FII outflows and a weaker start to the morning trade at the domestic equity markets put further pressure on the rupee, while a decline in crude oil prices cushioned against a steeper decline, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 94.73 against the U.S. dollar before rising to 94.69, down 6 paise from its previous close. The rupee depreciated 30 paise to close at 94.63 against the U.S. dollar on Monday (June 22, 2026). "The rupee opened weaker against the U.S. dollar, as mounting expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike and broad-based dollar strength weighed on Asian currencies. The greenback hovered near a 13-month high, supported by optimism surrounding U.S.-Iran peace negotiations and weakness in major currencies, particularly the British pound and Japanese yen," Pinky Yadav, Commodity Fundamental Analyst at Choice Broking, said. "While easing crude oil prices amid progress in U.S.-Iran talks may offer some support to the rupee, the Fed's hawkish stance and higher inflation outlook are likely to keep gains limited. Meanwhile, India's infrastructure output growth slowed to 0.5% in May, signaling a moderation in economic activity," Mr. Yadav said. "The rupee will remain in a range of 94.20 to 94.90 for the day with upticks to the dollar to be sold off," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 101.04, up 0.02%, amid hawkish Fed and the fragile U.S.-Iran trade deal. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.46% at $77.54 per barrel in futures trade. On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 57.43 points to 77,061.94 in early trade while the Nifty was down 31.6 points to 24,071.30. Foreign institutional investors turned net sellers, offloading equities worth ₹635.91 crore on a net basis on Monday (June 22, 2026), according to exchange data.