The Indian rupee slipped to a fresh all-time low on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, breaching the 91-mark against the U.S. dollar for the first time in intra-day trade, weighed down by sustained foreign fund outflows and lingering uncertainty over the India–US trade deal.
The local currency weakened by 36 paise to trade at 91.14 against the dollar at around 11.45 am, after opening lower at 90.87 in the interbank foreign exchange market. The rupee has fallen sharply from the 90 level over the last 10 trading sessions and has depreciated nearly 1% in the past five sessions alone.
On Monday, the rupee had settled at a record low of 90.78 against the greenback, down 29 paise from its previous close.
Market participants attributed the continued weakness to uncertainty surrounding the proposed India–US trade agreement and persistent dollar demand. “The lack of clarity on the US-India trade deal has clouded any recovery in the USD/INR pair, with dollar buying seen on a daily basis,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP. He added that even the recent reduction in the trade deficit failed to support the rupee amid ongoing Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) outflows.
According to exchange data, FIIs sold equities worth ₹1,468.32 crore on Monday.
Macroeconomic data also offered limited support, with wholesale price inflation remaining in negative territory for the second consecutive month. WPI-based inflation stood at (-)0.32% in November, compared with (-)1.21% in October, although prices of some food items such as pulses and vegetables rose on a month-on-month basis.
In global markets, the dollar index slipped marginally by 0.03% to 98.27, while Brent crude prices eased 0.61% to $60.19 per barrel.
Domestic equities traded lower in early deals, with the Sensex falling 363.92 points to 84,849.44 and the Nifty declining 106.65 points to 25,920.65, reflecting cautious sentiment amid currency weakness and foreign fund selling.
