Rupee gains 14 paise on Trump hint of no Iran action for now, equity flows

The Indian rupee modestly strengthened Friday, its first advance in six days tracking inflows into domestic equities, to close at 86.58 per dollar. The rupee climbed 14 paise despite volatile oil prices and no immediate signs of a truce in the Israel-Iran conflict.

The strength in the rupee came after US President Donald Trump signalled to avoid any precipitate action on Iran. Rebalancing of the FTSE Russell index also led to some flows, traders said. The rupee traded between 86.54 and 86.67 to the dollar on Friday.

Brent crude oil prices remained elevated at $77 per barrel, while the dollar index was at 98. A rise in crude oil prices is detrimental to inflation in India as the country is a large importer of the commodity. “Chances of rupee strengthening are very low while crude oil prices are this high. The gain we have seen today is all because of Trump’s comments to postpone strikes on Iran,” said Anil Bhansali, head of treasury at Finrex Treasury Advisors.

The Reserve Bank of India was likely absent today and did not intervene, traders said.

“The rebalancing flows of the FTSE Russell Index did help, but dollar demand was strong too, which countered the inflow,” a trader said. Foreign investors bought Indian equities worth ₹7,940.7 crore on Friday.

“The only positive we have seen is that FPIs are not large sellers in Indian equities,” Bhansali said.