MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Indian rupee slipped to a record low on Friday as traders remained jittery over news related to U.S. tariffs on India, while likely dollar-selling intervention by the Reserve Bank of India curbed sharper losses, traders said.
The rupee fell to 88.36 against the U.S. dollar, eclipsing its previous all-time low of 88.33 hit on September 1.
The currency was last at 88.2750, down 0.1% on the day.
Traders cited strong buying from foreign banks amid speculation about ongoing tariff pressures on India from the U.S.
The “spike on USD/INR was caused by worries of higher tariffs on India but state-run banks stepped in over 88.30 to cap losses, most likely on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India,” a senior trader at a bank said.
Merchant flows are relatively muted today so activity is skewed towards the dollar buying side, the trader added.
MUFG said the rupee could weaken to 89 by the first quarter of calendar year 2026 under the assumption that the steep tariffs remain for now but are eventually lowered to 25% sometime next year.
Foreign portfolio investors have continued to withdraw from Indian equities with net sales of $1.4 billion so far in September, taking the total outflow so far this year to over $16 billion.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru and Ira Dugal in Mumbai; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)
