The rupee surged 38 paise to 84.58 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday as trade-deal hopes and foreign fund inflows boosted investor sentiments.

US President Donald Trump’s statement that tariff talks with India are in a positive direction enthused investors, forex dealers said.

However, geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan and a muted sentiment in domestic equities weighed on investor sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 85.15 and moved between the intra-day high of 84.47 and the low of 85.15 against the greenback. The unit ended the session at 84.58 (provisional), registering a gain of 38 paise over its previous closing level.

On Tuesday, the rupee gained 27 paise to settle at 84.96 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, Trump said negotiations with India over a bilateral trade deal are “coming along great”, and he thinks Washington will “have a deal” with New Delhi.

Trump made the remarks on Tuesday while speaking to reporters before departing the White House for a rally in Michigan, marking the first 100 days of his second administration.

“India is coming along great. I think we’ll have a deal with India,” said the president.

“Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), as you know, was here three weeks ago, and they want to make a deal. We’ll see what happens,” he added.

Prime Minister Modi visited the White House in late February.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.20 per cent at 99.44.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.81 per cent to $63.73 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 46.14 points, or 0.06 per cent, to close at 80,242.24, while the Nifty fell 1.75 points or 0.01 per cent to settle at 24,334.20.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,385.61 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the Prime Minister, is understood to have deliberated on the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday amid speculations about India’s possible retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack in view of its cross border linkages.

The CCS meeting was held at the prime minister’s Lok Kalyan Marg residence, a day after he held a meeting with the top military brass and accorded operational freedom to the armed forces on the “mode, targets and timing” of India’s response to the April 22 attack that killed 26 people.

It was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, people familiar with the matter said.

Published on April 30, 2025