Rupee at ₹95.97: its weakest close against the dollar

A new weakest close

On Monday 18 May 2026 the US dollar closed at ₹95.97. That is the rupee's weakest close in our USD/INR series, which goes back to September 2016. It beat the previous weakest, ₹95.71 on Friday 15 May, by 26 paise.

The figures are daily USD/INR closing rates on weekdays, the series behind our currency converter.

May's weakest closes

Each of those six was a new record when it was set. The dollar first closed above ₹95 on 5 May. It has not yet closed above ₹96.

The month has not been one-way. After 5 May the rate eased to ₹94.25 on 8 May before turning up again, and over May so far the dollar is up 1.11% from April's last close of ₹94.92.

The pace of 2026

In the whole of 2025 the dollar rose 4.64% against the rupee. In 2026, in four and a half months, it has risen 6.91%. Put the other way, the rupee has lost 6.46% of its dollar value since New Year.

The round numbers are falling faster too:

• ₹85 was first crossed on 19 December 2024.
• ₹90 on 4 December 2025, almost a year later.
• ₹95 on 5 May 2026, five months after that.

There have been 22 record-weak closes in 2026 so far: five in January, none in February, ten in March, one in April and six in May. The weakest of the first quarter, ₹94.78 on 30 March, has since been passed by more than a rupee.

The ten-year view puts it in proportion. In September 2016, at the start of our series, a dollar cost ₹67.00. It now costs 43.2% more, a long, uneven slide that 2026 has steepened.

Alongside the flows

Foreign institutional investors have sold a net ₹2,62,594 crore of Indian shares from 1 January to 18 May 2026, on NSE's provisional cash-market figures, ₹21,842 crore of it in May. The rupee has weakened over the same months.

Our first-quarter rupee post looked at that pattern and found reasons for caution: in January to March 2025, FIIs sold heavily and the rupee barely moved. The same caution applies here. The flows data covers Indian shares only. It cannot show what is happening in trade, debt or the dollar's strength against other currencies, any of which can move the rate.

What this does not tell you

Not RBI reference rates. These are market closing rates, which can differ a little from the reference rates RBI publishes each day.

A record is not a forecast. A weakest-ever close says where the rate has been. It says nothing about whether the next move is further down or back up, and the rupee did firm for a few days earlier this month.

Not every investor feels it the same way. A weaker rupee raises the rupee value of foreign holdings, which is why international funds gain on the currency while it falls. It also raises the cost of anything priced in dollars. Our guide on currency risk explains both sides.

Where to go from here

Convert any amount at the latest rate with the currency calculator. The FII and DII data page has every session of institutional flows, and our April flows post covers last month's selling in detail.