On December 17, the Indian rupee experienced its largest single-day increase in seven months due to substantial intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI intervened to stabilize the currency market after the rupee touched its all-time low against the US dollar. During the first session of the day, state-run banks sold large quantities of dollars, which, according to market experts, was the RBI’s way of executing the intervention. This action led to a significant recovery of the rupee and increased confidence in the market. At 9:40 AM, the rupee was quoted at 90.0963 per US dollar against the opening of 91.0762 and the previous close of 91.0325. Throughout the session, the rupee gained approximately 1.03 percent, marking its strongest rise since May 23, 2025. Market sources state that the RBI came in heavily since dollar demand was driving the rupee down. The currency even reached a peak of 89.75 before importers started buying dollars, which caused the rupee to weaken slightly again. The rupee had been facing pressure in recent weeks due to the prolonged India-US trade negotiations and the drain of foreign investors. Limited RBI intervention earlier had also contributed to the depreciation. In order to support liquidity, the RBI conducted a swap operation, thereby injecting ₹45,000 crore into the banking system and is expected to purchase bonds worth ₹50,000 crore on December 18. At the same time, the US dollar was globally weak owing to the indications of a soft labor market, which heightened expectations of interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve in the future.
RBI Action Lifts Rupee to Biggest One-Day Gain in 7 Months
