Mon Mar 03 05:17:06 UTC 2025: ## Rupee Strengthens on Positive Economic Data

**Mumbai, March 3, 2025** – The Indian rupee strengthened against the US dollar on Monday, gaining 9 paise to reach 87.28, following the release of positive economic data. The improved performance comes after the government announced a 6.2% economic growth for the October-December quarter, a sequential recovery from seven-quarter lows. This positive news is expected to stem the outflow of foreign capital.

Despite this positive trend, lingering volatility caused by US tariffs continues to impact the market, leading to increased crude oil prices and preventing a more significant rupee appreciation. Brent crude rose 0.59% to $73.24 per barrel.

The dollar index fell 0.34% to 107.19, while domestic equity markets showed signs of recovery, with the BSE Sensex up 0.23% and the Nifty up 0.31%.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) injected long-term liquidity into the system on Friday through a $10 billion US dollar-rupee swap, which saw strong demand. However, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded ₹11,639.02 crore worth of equities on Friday.

India’s forex reserves also saw a significant increase, jumping by $4.758 billion to $640.479 billion in the week ended February 21. This follows a decrease of $2.54 billion the previous week.

Further positive economic indicators emerged with the announcement that gross GST collections rose by 9.1% to ₹1.84 lakh crore in February. However, the government’s fiscal deficit reached 74.5% of its annual target by the end of January.

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