Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 8 paise to 90.98 against the American currency in early trade on Tuesday, as strong dollar demand from metal importers and persistent foreign fund outflows dented investor sentiment.

Forex traders said rising geopolitical uncertainty, including renewed US expansionary signals, has increased risk aversion and kept emerging market currencies under pressure.

Moreover, a sluggish domestic stock market triggered by an exodus of foreign capital, they said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.91 and lost ground to trade at 90.98 against the greenback, down 8 paise from its previous close.

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On Monday, the rupee depreciated by 12 paise to close at 90.90 against the greenback, a tad above its record low closing level. On December 16, 2025, the rupee reached its lowest intra-day level of 91.14 and its lowest closing level of 90.93 against the American currency.

"The US Supreme Court will be giving a decision on the legality of the Trump Tariffs, which will affect the world markets directly. Presently, all the markets are in risk-off mode with Gold and Silver getting bought as safe havens," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.44 per cent lower at 98.95.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.11 per cent higher at USD 64.01 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 311.33 points to 82,934.85 in early trade, and the Nifty dropped 99.5 points to 25,486.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,262.82 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

"Foreign investors have withdrawn more than USD 3 billion from Indian equities so far in January, and the steady outflow has made the rupee increasingly sensitive to even modest dollar demand. With capital moving out, stability becomes harder to defend," CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.

Pabari further noted that the ongoing global uncertainty, combined with a sustained break above 91.07, could pave the way for a move toward the 91.70–92.00 zone, unless offset by active intervention from the RBI. On the downside, any corrective move is likely to find initial support in the 90.30–90.50 range.

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New Delhi (PTI): With Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi walking out of the Assembly without delivering his customary address to the House, Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Tuesday said the state will not accept the erosion of its democratic institutions and the governor must stop "misusing" a constitutional office.

Tamil Nadu Governor Ravi walked out of the state Assembly without delivering his customary address to the House in its maiden session of the year, alleging, among others, "inaccuracies" in the DMK government's prepared text.

Chief Minister M K Stalin slammed the governor for "walking out in violation of tradition and ethos," and later piloted a resolution saying the English version of the address was assumed to have been read.

Reacting to the development, Congress MP Tagore said, "Why does Governor Ravi repeatedly refuse to follow the Constitution of India? Once again, he has acted in a manner that undermines and insults the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly -- a democratically elected body of the people."

The Constitution is clear that the governor is a constitutional head, not a parallel authority, he said in a social media post in Tamil.

"He (the governor) must act on the aid and advice of the elected state government (Article 163). Reading out personal opinions, selectively altering the Assembly address, or withholding assent indefinitely is not constitutional discretion - it is constitutional defiance," Tagore said.

Noting that the Tamil Nadu Assembly represents millions of people, the Congress leader said, "disrespecting the House is not disrespecting a party - it is disrespecting democracy and federalism".

"Supreme Court judgments (SR Bommai, Nabam Rebia) are clear: Governors must act with neutrality, restraint, and constitutional morality - not as political agents of the Centre," he said.

Tamil Nadu will not accept the erosion of its democratic institutions, Tagore asserted.

"The governor must either uphold the Constitution or stop misusing a constitutional office to create confrontation," he said.