The rupee appreciated 40 paise to 87.68 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Thursday (October 16, 2025), primarily driven by central bank intervention, a softer dollar index.

Forex traders said other supportive factors like positive domestic equities, lower crude oil prices and renewed foreign fund inflows also boosted investor sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 87.76 and then gained ground and touched an early high of 87.68 against the U.S. dollar, registering a gain of 40 paise from its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee bounced back sharply by 73 paise to close at 88.08 against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, posting its biggest intraday gain in nearly four months.

The rupee rose on Wednesday largely on the back of easing global risk sentiment, optimism around India-US trade talks and likely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

“RBI ensured that the rupee opens higher, thus curbing all speculative trades yesterday and not allowing the rupee to fall past 88.39 on Wednesday,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Rupee opened on a positive note and is expected to trade in a range of 87.30 to 88.00 is a clear indication of the RBIs resolve to cut out all speculative trades which were taking the rupee lower.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.28% to 98.51.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.74% to $62.37 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 407.67 points to 83,013.10 in early trade, while the Nifty surged 104 points to 25,427.55.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth ₹68.64 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India’s exports grew 6.74% to $36.38 billion in September, while imports jumped 16.6%, widening the trade deficit to $31.15 billion, the highest in over a year.