Indian Rupee Ended the Day at 90.5900

The Indian rupee closed down at 90.5900 on Thursday in contrast to its previous closing at 90.7100 on Wednesday evening. The Indian rupee closed slightly higher at 90.59 per dollar on Thursday, marking a modest 0.1% gain from the previous session. Early advances, driven by suspected pre-emptive dollar sales by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through a major state-run lender, pushed the currency as high as 90.14 shortly after intervention, but these gains were later offset by strong corporate demand for dollars. Traders noted that the RBI's actions effectively curbed speculative short positions on the rupee, reducing expectations of it breaching 91 in the short term and limiting the impact of a 0.6% drop in India's Nifty 50 index. Meanwhile, the dollar remained broadly weak globally, with gains in currencies like the Korean won, euro, and pound, though recent strong U.S. jobs data tempered downside risks for the greenback without altering longer-term weakening forecasts for 2026.

At close, the Sensex was down 558.72 points or 0.66 percent at 83,674.92, and the Nifty was down 146.65 points or 0.57 percent at 25,807.20. Bajaj Finance, Shriram Finance, Eicher Motors, ICICI Bank, Trent were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Wipro.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs/FPIs) were net buyers of Indian equities to the tune of approximately Rs 108 crore, purchasing shares worth Rs 17,950 crore while selling Rs 17,841 crore, according to provisional exchange data. Meanwhile, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) net purchased Rs 277 crore, buying Rs 17,214 crore and selling Rs 16,937 crore. This marked a day of modest institutional support amid a broader market decline, with the Sensex falling 558.72 points (0.66%) to close at 83,674.92 and the Nifty 50 slipping 146.65 points (0.57%) to 25,807.20, driven by selling pressure in sectors like IT and cautious sentiment. Year-to-date in 2026, FPIs/FIIs remained net sellers of Rs 34,621 crore, while DIIs continued as strong net buyers with Rs 73,437 crore inflows, highlighting domestic institutions' ongoing role in cushioning the market. Technical analysts noted a range-bound outlook with Nifty support near 25,650–25,700 and resistance at 25,900–25,950, alongside a mild bearish bias and slightly elevated volatility as indicated by India VIX.