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The rupee slipped by 1 paisa to 90.67 against the U.S. dollar in the early session on Monday (February 16, 2026) amid FII outflows and a stronger greenback.
A marginal rise in global crude oil prices and a sharp decline in the country’s forex reserves also weighed on the local unit, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened higher at 90.63 before falling to 90.67 against the U.S. dollar, down 1 paisa from its previous close.
The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled 5 paise lower at 90.66 against the U.S. dollar on Friday.
“The rupee opened slightly stronger from Friday close and should remain in a small range on a day when cash demand will be lower due to U.S. Presidential Day holiday,” Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
Markets will watch out for India’s trade balance figures, which could be released by the Commerce Ministry on Monday (February 16, 2026), he said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.02% higher at 96.93.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.04% higher at $67.78 per barrel in futures trade.
At the domestic equity markets, Sensex declined 71.53 points to 82,555.23 in early trade while Nifty was down 11.95 points to 25,459.15.
On Friday, foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth ₹7,395.41 crore, according to exchange data.
Reserve Bank data released on Friday showed India’s forex reserves were down $6.711 billion to $717.064 billion during the week ended February 6. In the previous reporting week, the kitty had jumped by $14.361 billion to an all-time high of $723.774 billion.
Published – February 16, 2026 10:22 am IST
