India's rupee opens 2026 weaker at 89.9525 per dollar as corporate dollar demand met thin holiday trading

India’s rupee opened 2026 on Thursday at 89.9525 per U.S. dollar, slipping a bit from Wednesday’s close of 89.87, according to data from Google Finance.

This comes after the currency ended 2025 with a 4.72% annual fall, which is its weakest yearly performance since 2022 when losses came close to 10%.

The rupee is facing pressure from routine corporate dollar buying, which dominated flows in a thin market, according to Reuters.

Traders are expecting Indian stocks to help lift the rupee

Holiday conditions played a major role. With New Year breaks across large markets, trading desks reported subdued activity.

Traders said a turnaround in stock market flows would be critical to easing the demand pressure that hurt the rupee through much of the past year.

Asia-Pacific markets ended the year on a weak note during the shortened final session. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.03% to 8,714.3. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.87% to 25,630.54, while China’s CSI 300 fell 0.44%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.37%, and South Korea’s KOSPI declined 0.15%. India’s NIFTY 50 edged 0.06% higher, while Shanghai stocks gained 0.09%.

Globally, the MSCI All Country World Index rose more than 21% over the year and hit a record 1,024.29 on December 26, according to LSEG data.

Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 fell modestly, notching a third consecutive losing session. The broad market index lost 0.14% and closed at 6,896.24, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.24% and settled at 23,419.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.20%, and ended at 48,367.06.

Meanwhile, gold is up more than 64% on the year, making its best annual performance since 1979 and its third straight green year.

But silver far outpaced gold in 2025 after enduring wild price swings in recent days and surging 150% yearly. Like gold, this is silver’s best yearly performance since 1979, thanks to a mix of low supply and high demand from India, as well as industrial needs and tariffs.

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