Rupee rises 20 paise to 95.30 against U.S. dollar in early trade

Rupee maintained its upward trajectory, rising 20 paise to 95.30 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Friday (July 31, 2026), tracking foreign capital inflows and a decline in global crude oil prices. However, a stronger greenback capped sharper gains in the local unit, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 95.40 before rising further to 95.30, up 20 paise from its previous close. Rising for the fifth straight session, the rupee surged 26 paise to close at 95.50 against the U.S. dollar on Thursday (July 30, 2026). "The rupee is likely to continue to move back and forth in today's session, gain some strength against U.S. dollar due to modest pullback in oil prices, while expectations of continued intervention from the Reserve Bank of India [RBI] keeps it supported," Aamir Makda, Commodity and Currency Analyst, Technical Research, Choice Broking. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Iran each fired barrages of missiles on Thursday (July 30, 2026), as the pattern of back-and-forth strikes took hold again and hope dimmed for any quick resolution. After a brief respite, the risk of a return to all-out war emerged once more, with the fighting threatening to engulf even more countries. Jordan said on Thursday (July 30, 2026), it intercepted Iranian missiles for the second consecutive day, while Kuwait said a strike in the northern part of the country killed one person. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading up 0.35% at 100.21. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading sharply down by 0.98% at $88.16 per barrel. On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex advanced 49.91 points to 77,970.95 in early trade on Friday (July 31, 2026), while the Nifty was up 28 points to 24,343.65. Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth ₹3,623.51 crore on a net basis on Thursday (July 30, 2026) according to exchange data.