The rupee declined 6 paise to 88.72 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Monday (November 17, 2025) amid a firm American currency and relentless outflow of foreign capital.

Positive sentiment in domestic equity markets and lower crude oil prices overseas, however, prevented a sharp fall in the Indian currency, forex analysts said.

They said investors are also watching the progress on the proposed India-U.S. trade deal as well as the domestic PMI data to be released later this week.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 88.70 and slipped further to trade at 88.72 against the greenback in initial deals, registering a loss of 6 paise from its previous closing level.

On Friday, the rupee settled 4 paise higher at 88.66 against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.15% higher at 99.35.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.85% lower at $63.84 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex climbed 212.98 points or 0.25% to 84,775.76 in early trade, while the Nifty advanced 50.90 points or 0.20% to 25,960.95.

Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth ₹4,968.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

The government data released on Friday showed the country’s wholesale price inflation fell to a 27-month low of (-) 1.21% in October, led by a sharp deflation in food items like pulses and vegetables, and lower prices of fuel and manufactured items.

Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was 0.13% in September and 2.75% in October last year, the data showed.

Also, foreign exchange reserves dropped by another $2.699 billion to $687.034 billion during the week ended November 7, the RBI said on Friday.

The forex kitty has been on a declining trend for the past few weeks, and had decreased by $5.623 billion to $689.733 billion in the previous reporting week.