The Indian rupee made a subdued but positive start to Friday’s session, opening at 96.2100 against the US dollar on May 22, 2026 — a gain of 2 paise or 0.02% from the previous close. The move, though modest, placed the rupee on the firmer side of the dollar pair as forex desks came online for the final trading day of the week.
The euro lost ground against the rupee at the open, with EUR/INR quoting at 111.7094 — down 5.89 paise, or 0.05%, from the prior close. The single currency’s softness against the rupee was mirrored in its performance against the dollar, where EUR/USD slipped 0.0008 to 1.1616, a decline of 0.07%. That EUR/USD move represented the sharpest percentage swing among all cross-rates in the opening data, making it the pair with the most notable movement at the start of Friday’s session.
Sterling also retreated against the rupee, with GBP/INR opening at 129.1715 — a drop of 4.53 paise, or 0.04%. The pound’s softness was echoed in GBP/USD, which eased 0.0004 to 1.3426, shedding 0.03% at the open. Both EUR/INR and GBP/INR thus opened in the red, in contrast to the rupee’s marginal gain on the dollar side.
The Japanese yen cross presented a different picture. JPY/INR nudged up by 0.0001 to 0.6051, a rise of 0.02%, moving in the same direction as USD/INR. In the dollar-yen pair, USD/JPY climbed 0.0870 to 159.0360, gaining 0.05% — indicating that the yen weakened against the dollar even as it held steady in rupee terms at the open.
Among the other cross-rates in the opening data, USD/CNY moved to 6.7978, slipping 0.0042 or 0.06%, suggesting the Chinese yuan edged slightly firmer against the dollar as Asian currency trading got under way.
Taking stock of the opening snapshot as a whole, the rupee’s gains were confined to its dollar and yen pairs, while the euro and pound both opened softer against the domestic unit. The EUR/USD rate’s 0.07% decline stood out as the largest percentage move in the data set at this early hour, with USD/JPY’s 0.05% rise the second most pronounced. Overall, the opening moves across all pairs were contained, with no pair recording a change greater than a tenth of a percentage point.
Market data sourced from Yahoo Finance. Prices reflect closing/last traded values as of Friday, 22 May 2026, 9:15 AM IST. Data may be delayed by approximately 5 minutes. This article is for informational purposes only.
