Rupee rises 5 paise to close at 87.88 against US dollar
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated by 5 paise to close at 87.88 against the US dollar on Thursday, supported by a positive trend in domestic equities and risk-on sentiments amid optimism about the US-India trade deal.
Forex traders said the rupee closed on a positive note as there is a growing buzz that India and the US are inching closer to finalizing a long-awaited trade deal.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 87.80 and touched an intraday low of 87.96 before settling at 87.88, registering a rise of 5 paise from its previous close.
On Monday, the rupee had settled nine paise higher at 87.93 against the greenback.
Foreign exchange markets were closed on Tuesday and Wednesday due to Diwali and Diwali Balipratipada, respectively.
According to forex traders, investors will watch global cues, US economic data and RBI monetary signals for further directions.
Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said, "On Thursday, rupee opened with a gap and remained range-bound between 87.83 and 87.97 for the entire day... It would have gained towards 87.60 had it not been for the risk-aversion taking dollar index higher and Asian currencies lower. The premiums moved higher on payment by importers due to lower spot."
The range for Friday is expected between 87.50 and 88.00, he said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed trade issues during a phone conversation amid efforts by the two sides to repair bilateral ties that remain under strain after Washington slapped a whopping 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods.
In his remarks following the call on Tuesday, Trump described the India-US relationship as "great" and said, without elaborating, that the two sides are working on some "great deals".
Moreover, Trump has reiterated his claim that India has agreed to "stop" buying oil from Russia and would bring them down to "almost nothing" by the end of the year.
However, he said, it is a process and will take some time.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.14 per cent higher at 99.04.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 5.32 per cent at USD 65.92 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex climbed 130.06 points to settle at 84,556.40, while the Nifty rose 22.80 points to 25,891.40.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,165.94 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
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Indigo cancels 67 flights from multiple airports due to bad weather, operational issues
Mumbai (PTI): Domestic carrier IndiGo on Thursday cancelled 67 flights from multiple airports due to "forecasted" bad weather and operational reasons, according to the airline's website.
Of the 67 cancelled flights, only four were for operational reasons, and the rest were due to "forecasted" bad weather at various airports, including Agartala, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Varanasi, Bengaluru, among others, as per the website.
Aviation regulator, DGCA, has announced the period between December 10 and February 10 next year as the official fog window this winter.
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As part of the DGCA fog operations (CAT-IIIB) norms, airlines have to mandatorily roster pilots who are trained to operate in low-visibility conditions, as well as deploy a CAT-IIIB-compliant aircraft fleet for such operations.
Category-III is an advanced navigation system that empowers an aircraft to land under foggy conditions.
Category-III-A is a precision instrument approach and landing that enables a plane to land with a runway visual range (RVR) of 200 metres, while Category-III-B helps in landing with an RVR of under 50 metres.
IndiGo, whose operations are under DGCA monitoring after the cancellations of thousands of flights early this month, is already operating a curtailed schedule in compliance with the government's order.
Under its original winter flight schedule, the airline was permitted to operate 15,014 domestic flights per week, or about 2,144 flights per day, roughly six per cent higher than the 14,158 weekly flights it operated during the summer schedule of 2025.
However, after the massive disruptions, which saw the airline cancelling 1,600 flights on a single day on account of new rest norms for pilots, which allow more rest to the pilots, the government cut down the airline's domestic flight schedule by 10 per cent or 214 flights per day.
As a result of that, IndiGo can't operate more than 1,930 flights per day on domestic routes under its current winter schedule.
The Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline cancelled thousands of flights between December 1 and December 9 on account of a lack of proper planning, and crew shortage in implementing the new set of regulations for pilots' duty period and rest, which were put in place from November 1, thereby causing severe hardships to lakhs of air travellers.
Following this, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) formed a four-member panel, comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, with a mandate to identify the root causes of widespread operational disruptions at the Rahul Bhatia-controlled domestic carrier.
The panel, which has already grilled IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras as part of its probe, is expected to submit its report by this week.
Meanwhile, IndiGo, in a travel advisory on X, said, "Low visibility and fog over Bangalore has impacted flight schedule. We are keeping a close watch on the weather and doing our best where you need to be safely, smoothly".
Reacting to the advisory, an aggrieved passenger, in an X post, said, "My flight on December 20 from Bhubaneswar to Ahmedabad got delayed for more than five hours, and today my return flight from Ahmedabad to Bhubaneswar also got delayed more than three hours with the same excuse as bad weather. I am travelling with my senior citizen parents, and this delay is not acceptable. Need proper explanation, along with compensation".
