The rupee gained 28 paise to 96.25 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Monday (July 27, 2026), taking cues from a sharp fall in crude oil prices and positive global sentiment after the U.S. and Iran signalled an easing of tensions in West Asia.

The American currency index also retreated from an elevated level, while domestic equities witnessed a strong buying trend, supporting the local currency further, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 96.18 but lost some ground to trade at 96.28 against the greenback, logging a gain of 28 paise from its previous closing level.

On Friday (July 24), the rupee recovered from a low level and settled 20 paise higher at 96.53 against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading down 0.26% at 101.04.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 4.17% lower at $92.74 per barrel in futures trade.

Analysts attributed the recovery in crude prices to the easing of tensions in West Asia as the U.S. and Iran paused strikes against each other.

U.S. President Donald Trump is “giving talks some space”, Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News.

“He’s giving it a little bit of room,” Mr. Waltz said, adding, “We’ve had both Oman and Iran, and a number of our other negotiators, engaged at every level, from the most senior levels all the way down to the technical level over the past few weeks, and particularly in the past few days.”

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex rose 613.80 points, or 0.81%, to 76,673.57, while the Nifty climbed 165.40 points, or 0.70%, to 23,931.55.

Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth ₹3,892.77 crore on a net basis on Friday (July 24), according to exchange data.