The rupee appreciated 12 paise to 89.51 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, supported by the RBI’s major liquidity announcement and the weakness of the American currency in the overseas market.

Forex traders said the rupee started the day on a stronger note after the RBI announced sufficient liquidity for the markets to the extent of approx. Rs 3 lakh crore, which will also allow the RBI to keep rupee weakness under control.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 89.56 against the US dollar, then gained some ground and touched 89.51 against the US dollar, registering a gain of 12 paise over its previous close.

In the initial trade, it also touched 89.65 against the American currency. On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 89.63 against the US dollar.

“The RBI was seen actively managing the rupee to prevent excessive volatility and keep USD/INR from breaking 90 levels while it also bought dollars from the spot market to prevent the appreciation.”

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 97.87.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.02 per cent at USD 62.39 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex rose 63.82 points to 85,588.66, while the Nifty was up 32.80 points to 26,209. 95.

Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,794.80 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday said it will purchase government securities worth Rs 2 lakh crore and conduct a USD 10 billion buy/sell dollar-rupee swap auction to inject liquidity in the banking system.

The latest announcement comes days after the RBI conducted Rs 1 lakh crore OMO purchase auctions of Government of India securities and USD/INR Buy/Sell Swap auction of USD 5 billion for a tenor of three years.

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed marginally higher in a rangebound trade on Wednesday as investors stayed on the sidelines amid weak global market trends and tariff-related uncertainty.

Rising for the second day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex edged up 63.57 points or 0.08 per cent to settle at 82,634.48. During the day, it hit a high of 82,784.75 and a low of 82,342.94.

The 50-share NSE Nifty ended 16.25 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 25,212.05.

Among Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, Infosys, Adani Ports and ITC were the major gainers.

However, Eternal, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance and Bharat Electronics were among the major laggards.

“Indian equity markets closed modestly higher on Wednesday, recovering from early losses amid foreign fund inflows, easing market volatility, and renewed buying interest in IT stocks,” Gaurav Garg, Analyst, Lemonn Markets Desk, said.

Tech Mahindra rose by 1.94 per cent ahead of its financial results that were announced after market hours. The company posted a 30 per cent jump in consolidated profit after tax to Rs 1,128.8 crore in the June quarter of FY26 over the year-ago period.

Infosys rebounded by 1.5 per cent, helping the key indices close in green.

“India’s macroeconomic outlook remains strong, supported by easing inflation, lower interest rates, a healthy monsoon, and softer oil prices. A drop in inflation in eight straight months has provided a push to the market. However, investors are showing a mix of optimism and caution in the relief rally to assess the Q1 FY26 corporate earnings, as an upgrade in earnings is essential in the premium valued stock market.

“Additionally, global sentiment is mixed amid tariff concerns—highlighted by the announcement of a 50% duty on copper—and fading hopes of a near-term US Fed rate cut on account of sticky inflation, adding market uncertainty,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 120.47 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

“The benchmark equity indices exhibited range-bound price action and ended marginally in the green, marking the second consecutive session of gains. Market participants remained cautious amid prevailing uncertainty around global tariff developments,” according to Bajaj Broking Research.

The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.28 per cent and midcap index went up by 0.10 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, BSE Focused IT climbed 0.67 per cent, followed by IT (0.66 per cent), services (0.55 per cent), realty (0.50 per cent) and teck (0.49 per cent).

Commodities, capital goods, metal and industrials were the laggards.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng settled lower.

European markets were trading on a mixed note. The US markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.26 per cent to USD 68.55 a barrel.

On Tuesday, the Sensex climbed 317.45 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 82,570.91. The Nifty edged higher by 113.50 points or 0.45 per cent to 25,195.80.

 Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled on Monday after a four-day rally amid emergence of profit-taking, mainly in bank stocks.

After staying in the negative territory throughout the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex later dropped 452.44 points or 0.54 per cent to settle at 83,606.46. During the day, it tanked 576.77 points or 0.68 per cent to 83,482.13.

The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 120.75 points or 0.47 per cent to 25,517.05.

From the Sensex firms, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank were among the major laggards.

However, Trent, State Bank of India, Bharat Electronics, Titan and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.

The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.81 per cent and midcap index went up by 0.67 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty dropped 0.87 per cent, bankex (0.59 per cent), auto (0.49 per cent), metal (0.49 per cent), oil & gas (0.19 per cent) and financial services (0.17 per cent).

Capital goods jumped 1.10 per cent, services (1.08 per cent), industrials (0.66 per cent), healthcare (0.56 per cent) and consumer durables (0.42 per cent).

“Last week, the market had seen a sharp upsurge on the back of strong global cues and domestic institution buying, however, profit-taking came to the fore which pulled down benchmark indices.

“The focus will be on tariff settlement with the US government, as the due date is nearing and India is yet to conclude the agreement which could create uncertainty amongst the investors. While volatility will continue, India’s strong growth prospects going forward would temper the fall,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

In the past four trading days, the Sensex jumped 2,162.11 points or 2.64 per cent and the Nifty surged 665.9 points or 2.66 per cent.

“The global market sentiment is moving in favour of equities on account of easing risk in the Middle East and the US trade deal hopes. However, the main domestic indices witnessed profit-booking after the recent rally.

“Investors are now turning their attention to quarterly earnings and will refocus the markets on fundamentals for valuation support,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index and Shanghai’s SSE Composite index settled in the positive territory while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended lower.

European markets were quoting lower.

The US markets ended higher on Friday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,397.02 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.15 per cent to USD 67.67 a barrel.

On Friday, the Sensex climbed 303.03 points or 0.36 per cent to reclaim the 84,000 level and settle at 84,058.90. On the similar lines, the Nifty rose 88.80 points or 0.35 per cent to 25,637.80.

Mumbai: Air India has cancelled three of its international flights on Wednesday owing to various reasons, including maintenance and technical issues.

Two of these flights were cancelled after the passengers had already boarded the aircraft, the airline said.

The airline said it had to cancel its Toronto-Delhi flight AI188 of June 18 due to extended maintenance and consequently operating crew coming under regulatory flight duty time limitation norms.

Passengers, who had already boarded the aircraft, were disembarked following cancellation of the flight, it said.

Also, flight AI996 from Dubai to Delhi on June 18, 2025 was cancelled due to technical reasons and passengers were disembarked after boarding, as per Air India.

However, the airline’s flight AI2145 from Delhi to Bali was cancelled after it was advised to return to Delhi mid-way due to reports of volcanic eruption near the destination airport Bali, in the interest of safety, Air India stated.

The flight safely landed back in Delhi and all passengers were disembarked.

Air India said its teams on the ground are making alternative arrangements for the passengers to fly to their respective destinations at the earliest.

Full refunds on cancellation or complimentary rescheduling have also been offered to passengers.

Air India said it is anticipating some disruptions (in its flight operations) due to the continuing enhanced checks on the airline’s Boeing 787 fleet coupled with airspace restrictions and inclement weather.

On June 13, a day after the B787-8 crash that killed 241 people on board, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ordered enhanced surveillance of Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet, comprising 26 787-8 and seven 787-9 planes.

Since the Ahmedabad crash, Air India cancelled 66 flights to be operated with Boeing 787 between June 12th and June 17th. Multiple flights have been cancelled or delayed citing technical issues.

At a review meeting with top executives of Air India and Air India Express, aviation safety regulator DGCA flagged concerns regarding recent maintenance-related issues reported at Air India and “advised the airline to strengthen internal coordination across engineering, operations, ground handling units and ensure availability of adequate spares to mitigate passenger delays.

It however said that recent surveillance on Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet “did not reveal any major safety concerns”.

“The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be in compliance with existing safety standards,” DGCA said in a post-review meeting statement.

New Delhi: Amid rupee falling to a record low level of 87.29 to a dollar, Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Monday said there is no concern over rupee value and the Reserve Bank of India is managing the volatility of the local currency.

“There is no concern about the value of the rupee. The volatility in rupee is being managed by the RBI,” Pandey told reporters.

He said the Indian rupee is “free-float” and no control or fixed rate is applicable on the currency.

He said the exchange rate is facing pressure amid unabated foreign fund outflows.

The rupee depreciated 67 paise to hit record low of 87.29 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday after Trump Tariffs on Canada Mexico and China triggered fears of a broad trade war.

Donald Trump slapped Canada and Mexico with 25 percent duties and China with a 10 percent duty, The move was the first strike in what could usher a destructive global trade war, forex traders said.

In 2025, the Indian rupee depreciated 1.8 percent from the 85.61 to a dollar level on December 31, 2014.

The rupee continued to face pressure due to sustained foreign fund outflows and the broad strength of the American currency in the overseas markets due to unabated dollar demand from oil importers and weak risk appetite.

The rupee logged its steepest single-day fall in nearly two years and ended the session 66 paise down at its historic low of 86.70 against the US dollar on Monday, weighed down by a stronger American currency and surging crude oil prices.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 86.12, and moved 1 paisa during intraday to 86.11 before closing the session with a loss of a staggering 66 paise at its lowest-ever level of 86.70 against the greenback.

The fall of 66 paise in one session was the steepest since February 6, 2023 when the unit had lost 68 paise.

The Indian currency has witnessed the deepest plunge of more than Re 1 in the past two weeks from the closing level of 85.52 on December 30.

Rupee had breached the 85-per-dollar mark for the first time on December 19, 2024.

On Friday, the local currency had declined 18 paise to settle at 86.04 against the US dollar, a day after registering a marginal gain of 5 paise. In the preceding back-to-back sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, it had plunged 6 paise and 17 paise, respectively.

The unprecedented fall was attributed to the relentless chase of the US dollar by investors, which also led to a massive withdrawal of foreign capital from Indian equities.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,892.84 crore on Monday.

According to analysts, the Reserve Bank of India has allowed the fall in rupee’s exchange rate versus US dollar amid dwindling forex reserves and declining emerging market currencies.

“RBI will allow the weakness as demand keeps moving up and supplies dwindle,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said the country’s forex reserves dropped by USD 5.693 billion to USD 634.585 billion in the week ended January 3.

At the same time, the dollar strengthened on better-than-expected job growth in the US market, which also fuelled the rising benchmark treasury yields amid expectations of a slower interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, analysts said.

Besides, the US has imposed more sanctions on Russia, resulting in Brent oil prices higher to USD 81 per barrel. This comes at a time when investors are already cautious in anticipation of restrictive trade measures by the new regime under President Donald Trump.

Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said the rupee hit a fresh low on strong dollar and weak global markets. FIIs continue to remain as net sellers, while crude oil prices rose nearly 2 per cent.

Going ahead, Choudhary said, rising crude oil prices and risk aversion in global markets may weigh on the rupee. “USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 86.25 to 86.80,” he said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading up 0.24 per cent to its over two-year-high level of 109.91.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged 1.14 per cent to USD 80.67 per barrel in futures trade.

According to Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst – Commodity and Currency, LKP Securities, the rupee marked its lowest level amid a rapid fall of over 1 per cent in the past week. The decline is attributed to higher crude prices, following sanctions on Russia by the Biden administration in the US.

“Elevated crude prices have further widened India’s import bill, adding pressure on the rupee. The trading range for the rupee is seen with support near 87.00 and resistance around 86.25, as participants keep a close eye on geopolitical developments and commodity trends,” Trivedi added.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex crashed 1,048.90 points, or 1.36 per cent, to settle at 76,330.01 points, while the Nifty tanked 345.55 points, or 1.47 per cent, to 23,085.95 points.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, retail inflation eased to 5.22 per cent in December, from 5.5 per cent in November, 2024.

The industrial production (IIP) growth accelerated to a six-month high of 5.2 per cent year-on-year in November 2024, riding on the increased festive demand and pick-up in the manufacturing sector.

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank on Wednesday said 98.12 per cent of the Rs 2000 banknotes have been returned to the banking system, and only Rs 6,691 crore worth such notes are still with the public. On May 19, 2023, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the withdrawal of Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation.

The total value of Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation, which was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, declined to Rs 6,691 crore at the close of business on December 31, 2024, RBI said. “Thus, 98.12 per cent of the Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, has since been returned,” it said in a statement.

The facility for deposit and/or exchange of the Rs 2000 banknotes was available at all bank branches till October 7, 2023. However, this facility is still available at the 19 issue offices of the Reserve Bank. From October 9, 2023, the RBI issue offices are also accepting Rs 2000 banknotes from individuals and entities for deposit into their bank accounts. Further, members of the public can also send Rs 2000 banknotes through India Post from any post office within the country to any of the RBI issue offices for credit to their bank accounts. The Rs 2000 banknotes continue to be legal tender.

The 19 RBI offices depositing/exchanging the banknotes are in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram. The Rs 2000 banknotes were introduced in November 2016, following the demonetisation of the then-prevailing Rs 1000 and Rs 500 banknotes.

Imphal : SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Starlink satellite beams were turned off over India, reacting to claims that its device was being used in restive Manipur.

The security forces recently seized some internet devices along with arms and ammunition during a raid in Keirao Khunou in Imphal East district.

The Spear Corps of the Indian Army had shared photos of the items seized on X, and social media users were quick to note that one of the devices had a “Starlink logo” on it.

Pointing to it, an X user posted, “@Starlink is being used by terrorists. Hope, Elon @elonmusk looks into it and help control misuse of this technology.”

Musk replied, “This is false. Starlink satellite beams are turned off over India.”

Among the items seized from Keirao Khunou were “one internet Satellite Antenna, one internet Satellite Router and 20 meters (approx.) of FTP cables”, according to the state police.

The recovery of the Starlink-like device has also prompted agencies to investigate how the equipment found its way to the strife-torn state, officials had said.

Musk’s Starlink, which provides satellite internet services, does not have a licence to operate in India.

More than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups in Manipur since May last year.

IT industry veteran and Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy

Kolkata: IT industry veteran and Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy on Sunday emphasised the need for using advanced technologies, including Artificial intelligence (AI), in India, stating that technology is a “great leveller”.

Technology can help reduce the gap between the well-to-do and the not-so-well people, Murthy said while speaking at the centenary celebration of the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.

“Technology is about reducing cost. It’s about increasing revenues and profitability. So technology has a lot of value. It also does something that most people don’t realise. Technology is a great leveller. So we need technology in India if we want to reduce the gap between the well-to-do and the not-so-well. That’s what financial inclusion has done,” he said.

“My personal view is there are areas where we cannot do without AI,” Murthy said.

He said AI can be used in areas like automatic cars, precision operations, disease detection and hazardous operations in which human beings may be exposed to high risk.

Murthy stressed the need for hard work and performance to earn respect for oneself and for the country.

“I urge the youngsters to understand that we have a great responsibility to fulfil the pledge of our founding fathers (of the nation). We have greater responsibility as enunciated by scriptures. We have to show fairness and justice to create opportunities for the less fortunate one. That is why we have to work hard,” he said.

Murthy also asked entrepreneurs to embrace “compassionate capitalism” which is practising capitalism while combining it with the best aspect of liberalism and the best aspect of socialism.

Bareilly (UP): Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.

The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.

“Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system,” Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.

The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.

There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.

Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.