Rupee continued its upward rally against the US dollar on Friday, opening at 90.1325 per dollar, up about 0.1% from its previous close.The currency closed at 90.20 against US dollar, on Thursday, making a tentative recovery after sliding to record lows earlier this week.This rebound was largely attributed to intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which stepped in to sell dollars after the currency came under intense and sustained pressure. Bankers said the apex bank’s intervention was aimed at disrupting the one-way depreciation that had built up in the market, triggering unwinding of bearish positions. Market participants noted that the RBI’s latest move was similar to its approach in October and November. Back then, it had intervened multiple times to counter persistent weakness in the currency, selling dollars heavily in both the spot and non-deliverable forward (NDF) markets. Meanwhile, State Bank of India (SBI) has also projected a strong rebound in rupee in the latter half of the next financial year, expecting the recovery to take shape between October 2026 and March 2027, according to its latest report. The country’s largest lender said that its outlook is based on historical currency trends and internal analysis, which suggest that the current phase of weakness is not structural. The report noted that rupee has undergone multiple cycles of depreciation and appreciation in the past and is likely to move out of the present downtrend in the second half of the next fiscal year.
