The rupee weakened by 5 paise to 90.22 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Tuesday (January 13, 2026), amid a strengthening American currency, higher crude oil prices and incessant outflow of foreign funds.

An unprecedented geopolitical concern and global trade uncertainties have accelerated the dollar demand worldwide, adding strength to the greenback and putting pressure on the Indian currency, analysts said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.24 and gained slightly to trade at 90.22 against the greenback in early deals, registering a loss of 5 paise from its previous closing level.

On Monday (January 12, 2026), the rupee ended 1 paisa higher at 90.17 against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.11 per cent higher at 98.73.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.28% higher at $64.05 per barrel in futures trade.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth ₹3,638.40 crore on Monday (January 12), according to exchange data.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex rose 125.96 points or 0.15% to 84,004.13, while the Nifty advanced 47.25 points or 0.18% to 25,837.50.

Analysts attributed the buying trend in equities to the positive cues triggered by strong domestic macroeconomic numbers.

According to government data released on Monday, India’s retail inflation rose to a three-month high of 1.33% in December, mainly due to higher prices of food items, but remained below the Reserve Bank of India’s lower tolerance level.

Also, the latest data from the Income Tax Department showed the government’s net direct tax collection grew about 8.82% to over ₹18.38 lakh crore in the current fiscal till January 11 due to slower refunds and better corporate tax mop-up.

Net corporate tax collection grew 12.4% to over ₹8.63 lakh crore, and taxes from non-corporates, including individuals, rose 6.39% to about ₹9.30 lakh crore.