The Indian rupee took a small fall on Friday, November 28, 2025, dropping 7 paise to settle at 89.43 (provisional) against the mighty US dollar. What shook the rupee? Traders say it was a combo of a strong greenback and rising global crude oil prices that sent the rupee sliding. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee started the day at 89.41, hit a low of 89.49 during the day, and finally closed at 89.43. The day’s slip came after the rupee already lost 14 paise against the dollar on Thursday. “The Indian currency was also weighed down by subdued equity market sentiment and the withdrawal of foreign funds, even as investors keenly awaited the release of domestic macroeconomic data later in the day,” forex traders reported. So not only the global market but also the home front looked shaky. Anuj Choudhary, a Research Analyst from Mirae Asset ShareKhan, explained, “Indian rupee traded on a negative bias amid a recovery in the US dollar index and mixed-to-weak domestic markets.” He added, “Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) outflows and overnight gains in crude oil prices also pressured the rupee.” Yet there’s a silver lining! Choudhary expects the rupee to gain some strength soon. “We expect the rupee to trade with a slight positive bias on rising odds of a rate cut by the Fed in December and easing geopolitical tensions,” he noted. He predicts the USD-INR spot price will stay between 89.25 and 89.70. Meanwhile, the finance ministry’s October report put the rupee's 3.5% fall against the dollar from March-end to October-end into perspective. It said, “Looking at the longer trend, the rupee depreciated by 3.5% against the U.S. dollar... demonstrating a gradual weakening consistent with broader emerging-market currency trends.” So, the rupee is playing in a bigger league trend. Globally, the dollar index rose 0.18% to 99.69, showing the US dollar growing stronger against a basket of six currencies. Experts say higher demand for the greenback from importers and banks doing month-end trade payments is behind this surge. Adding more spice to the story, Brent crude oil—the world’s oil price benchmark—climbed by 0.27% to $63.51 per barrel in futures trade. Back home, Indian stock markets showed some weakness: The Sensex dipped a bit by 13.71 points to close at 85,706.67, and the Nifty dropped 12.60 points to 26,202.95. On top of that, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹1,255.20 crore on Thursday, indicating money flowing out. So, the rupee’s little stumble today comes wrapped in the bigger drama of a strong US dollar, rising oil prices, global trends, and cautious investors watching closely. Will the rupee bounce back soon? The coming days and economic data might hold the answers.