𝗥𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝟵𝟱.𝟳𝟲 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝘀 𝗨𝗦 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗳𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗶𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗲

The Indian rupee fell for a second straight day on Wednesday. It dropped 40 paise to close at 95.76 against the US dollar.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative proposed extra duties on imports from 54 nations, including India. The USTR linked the 12.5% duty to forced labour.

Fresh tensions in the Middle East pushed oil prices higher. Brent crude rose 2.76% to USD 98.65 per barrel.

Forex traders said these events hurt investor sentiment. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers. They offloaded equities worth Rs 5,616.56 crore on Wednesday.

The rupee opened at 95.43 in the interbank market. It hit a low of 95.80 before settling at 95.76. The day before, it closed at 95.36.

Dilip Parmar of HDFC Securities said capital outflows and the tariff plans pulled the rupee down. He said a stronger US dollar and higher bond yields also hurt regional currencies.

The Indian government said it is talking with the US on Section 301 probes. These probes look at forced labour and excess industrial capacity. India is also working on an interim trade deal with the US. The two sides announced a framework for this deal on February 7.

The USTR started two Section 301 probes on March 11 and March 12. These cover 60 economies.

Traders now await the Reserve Bank of India policy meeting. The Monetary Policy Committee will meet from June 3 to June 5. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra will announce the decision on June 5.

Market data on Wednesday: