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Mumbai: The rupee, buffeted by the seemingly unrelenting sales of Indian stocks by foreign funds since September, logged its best week in two years to close at 86.87/$1 Friday after the dollar index retreated 3.5% in the past five sessions on data that points to signs of weakness in the US economy, traders said.The dollar index, which maps the strength of the dollar relative to a basket of currencies, slid to 103.6. It was just shy of the 110 mark as recently as late January, with safe-haven demand roiling equities across the Emerging Markets, and prompting the most protracted slide in India's benchmark stock gauges in nearly three decades.The rupee had closed at 87.12/$1 on Thursday, and at 87.37/$1 at the start of the week, LSEG data showed. The currency was stronger by 0.7% in the week ended March 7-its best weekly performance against the US dollar since February 2023. Dollar sales by local banks and corporates also helped, traders said. The markets expect the rupee to gain a little more-toward the 86.50/$1 level. No Selling by Exporters "There was dollar selling today, because at 103.6 levels, the dollar index is at a four-and-a-half-month low. There were also dollar sales from Reliance for about $1 billion, helping in the rupee's appreciation," said Anil Bhansali, head of treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors. "Exporters also haven't sold overall, which was a positive for the currency."Likely Limited GainsAlthough there is some possibility of further appreciation of the rupee, tariff risks and trade disruption possibilities still persist, limiting the scope of significant appreciation for the local monetary unit, currency market participants said.There was no intervention from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Friday on either side. The RBI may intervene and absorb dollars if the rupee appreciates toward the 86.50/$1 level, traders said.The dollar index has weakened to 103.6, from 107.4 at the start of the week, LSEG data showed. The dollar index is following rate cut expectations from the US Federal Reserve, as markets have started pricing in three rate cuts, instead of the previously expected two, traders said. The dollar index was at a high of 109.3 in January."There has been a reversal of positions as markets were heavily long on the dollar," said Anindya Banerjee, head of currency research at Kotak Securities. "I think the rupee still has some catching up to do and the currency may appreciate to 86.50/$1 in the coming week, but the window towards appreciation would be small."The markets would now be keenly tracking the non-farm payroll (NFP) data expected on Friday after India market hours, and this data set would help gauge the trajectory for interest rates in the US and the dollar index. A number approximately beyond 100,000 in the NFP data could boost the dollar index yet again, traders said."For now, I am advising importers to buy at any dip, especially if the rupee goes toward 86.60/$1 to 86.50/$1 levels. I am also asking exporters to sell (dollars) if the currency goes beyond 87.10/$1 to 87.20/$1 levels, and hedge their positions especially for March," Bhansali said.

Mumbai: India's equity indices clocked their highest weekly gains in 2025 as investors toned down some of their pessimism in an oversold market, hoping that the US might not announce fresh trade tariffs immediately. The undertone remains cautious, reflected in the market swings on Friday, amid uncertainty over Donald Trump's inconsistent trade tariff policy.The NSE Nifty ended 0.03% or 7.8 points higher to close at 22,552.50. The BSE Sensex declined 0.01% or 7.51 points to close at 74,332.58. Both indices rose 1.9% this week, the first advance after three weeks.Trump on Thursday suspended the 25% tariff he had imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico. The US President's on-and-off tariff policy is expected to keep markets on the edge in the days ahead."The markets are responding to the US tariffs as of now and the reciprocal tariffs are already discounted by the street," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of research, Kotak Securities. "There is a possibility of the Nifty moving towards 23,000 levels in the near term."Chouhan said that if higher tariffs are announced, there could be corrections, but the levy imposed is not likely to go up.118796823US futures rose in early trade on Friday after data showed the economy created 151,000 jobs in February, above January's revised reading of 125,000. Elsewhere in Asia, China fell 0.25% while Hong Kong and Taiwan shed around 0.6%. South Korea ended 0.49% lower while Indonesia advanced 0.27%.At home, the Mid-cap 150 index declined 0.3% while the Small-cap 250 index ended 0.7% higher on Friday. Out of the 4,114 shares traded on the BSE, 2,478 advanced, while 1,516 declined. In the past week, the mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 3% and 5.5%, respectively."At the current levels, most of the negatives like lower earnings this quarter, the tariff concerns and the valuation froth in the market are already priced in," said Dharmesh Kant, head of research, Cholamandalam Securities. Buying Action in Largecap Space Renewed buying interest and short covering can push the Nifty to 23,000 to 23,500 levels in the near term, he said.Kant said that except for some pockets in the smallcap and microcap segment, the market is fairly valued. "The valuations have come off significantly and when the markets are expected to bounce back, the buying action is expected to come back to large cap names," Chouhan said.The imposition of tariffs can also push the dollar index and US 10-year bond yields lower, which could lead to a slowdown in the sell-off by foreign investors and also prompt them to cover their bearish bets, he said.Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 2,035 crore on Friday. Their domestic counterparts bought shares worth Rs 2,320 crore. So far in March, overseas investors have sold shares worth over Rs 12,600 crore."Banking and financial services are the safest best in the current market, but the lack of movement in the stock is due to asset quality issues which are likely to worsen in Q4," said Kant. "However, in light of the liquidity measures by the RBI and any additional rate cuts, these stocks can gain momentum."Kant said that defence stocks are reasonably priced post the corrections and metal stocks stand to benefit from US tariffs. IT and autos are likely to be trading bets and are not a structural buy.

The U.S. military's classified mini space shuttle returned to Earth on Friday after circling the world for 434 days. The space plane blasted into orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in December 2023 on a secret mission. Launched by SpaceX, the X-37B vehicle carried no people, just military experiments. Its predawn touchdown at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was not announced until hours after the fact. Photos showed the white-and-black space plane parked on the runway in darkness. It's the seventh flight of one of these test vehicles. Space Force officials said the mission successfully demonstrated the ability to change orbits by using atmospheric drag to slow down, saving fuel. It's "an exciting new chapter in the X-37B program," program director Lt. Col. Blaine Stewart said in a statement. First launched in 2010, the Boeing-made, reusable space planes have spent as long as 908 days in space at a time. They're 29 feet (9 meters) long with a wingspan of almost 15 feet (4.5 meters).

Ola Electric Mobility's rapid expansion into brick-and-mortar showrooms is running into regulatory trouble. The Bengaluru-based electric scooter maker, once a champion of the digital-only sales model, recently scaled up to 4,000 physical locations since 2022. A Bloomberg News investigation has found that out of roughly 3,400 showrooms for which data is available, a little over 100 locations had trade certificates required under India’s Motor Vehicles Act.That means more than 95% of the stores on which Bloomberg News saw the data, lacked basic certification needed to display, sell, offer test rides on or transport unregistered two-wheelers.In response to customer complaints, transport authorities across Indian states have conducted raids, closed showrooms, seized vehicles and sent show-cause notices querying the Bhavish Aggarwal-led firm, according to internal documents and government warning letters seen by Bloomberg News.The country’s Motor Vehicles Act mandates that every auto showroom, including two-wheelers, should have a trade certificate conspicuously displayed if it keeps unregistered vehicles, according to Hans Kumar, a retired assistant transport commissioner who worked in the western Indian state of Rajasthan.At least six local transport officials in interviews with Bloomberg News said they were probing Ola for alleged violations, reflecting the dark underbelly of Ola’s aggressive expansion. “Your ‘investigation’ findings that there is non-compliance are misplaced and prejudiced,” an Ola spokesperson said in an emailed response. Ola maintains an inventory of unregistered vehicles at its distribution centres and warehouses across Indian states “which are fully compliant with the guidelines of the Motor Vehicles Act, and have the necessary approvals,” he added.Ola’s response did not directly answer whether their public-facing stores had trade certificates or if the firm had seen the raids, seizures by local transport regulators.Battling crisesThe startup, once India’s biggest scooter maker, is now battling crises on multiple fronts. Shares have plunged over 60% from its peak since listing in August. It has also faced buyer complaints on quality and service issues, social media backlash and widening losses in recent months. Aggarwal said in an October post on X that Ola was expanding its network to address customer complaints.The regulatory challenges come as the company lays off over a thousand employees and contract workers, Bloomberg News reported this month, where Ola acknowledged that some roles were getting redundant as it recast and automated a part of its operations. It’s also racing to roll out its e-motorcycles, which are delayed since Aggarwal had indicated a January launch at an event last year. Ola spokesperson did not answer a query on the delayed motorcycle launch.According to nearly two dozen notices sent by state-level transport officials and seen by Bloomberg News, transport officials across India have stepped up scrutiny and often found Ola falling short of the trade certificate requirement at the store level.Ola sporadically applied and obtained trade certificates in some locations in response to transport department’s notices or raids, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News. The first warning to Ola about these violations dates back to at least 2023, with the most recent coming in early March. Transport officials in multiple states confirmed ongoing investigations into Ola’s showroom operations.In the midst of all the regulatory action, Ola announced a store launch blitz in December adding overnight more than 3,200 new locations. Most of these new stores don’t have the necessary trade certificates, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News. The emailed response from Ola did not comment on the transport officials’ probes or the lack of certification in these newer stores.Ola told transport authorities since at least late 2023 that its experience centers are merely for “customer engagement” and not direct sales, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News, but regulatory probes have continued across states.Ola told exchanges on Feb. 19 that it was re-negotiating terms with two of its agencies engaged in vehicle registration in government regional transport offices. This would impact February’s vehicle registration numbers in the government database, it added.Red flagThe scooter maker, in a Feb. 28 exchange filing, said it had sold “over 25,000 vehicles” last month while a government portal VAHAN shows that just over 8,600 were registered. This massive gap is potentially a red flag since customers cannot receive unregistered vehicles in India.Indian automakers typically only count registered vehicles in their sales. Not registering all the invoiced vehicles even a week after Ola announced its sales number to exchanges — local rules give it up to a seven-day window — risks putting it at odds with state government laws. “The registration figures for February 2025 sales will be updated on the VAHAN portal in the next few weeks,” Ola spokesperson said in the email, adding that this delay was already flagged in an exchange filing last month.The widespread store-level non-compliance comes on the back of rising pressure to boost scooter sales and plummeting share price. Ola has also lost market share — and its top spot in the two-wheeler market — as legacy manufacturers Bajaj Auto Ltd. and TVS Motor Co. gain ground, according to data compiled by the government’s VAHAN database.Despite its mounting challenges, Ola’s Aggarwal said the firm will post a turnaround soon.“We can expect auto segment Ebitda breakeven at about 50,000 monthly sales,” Aggarwal told analysts in a Feb. 7 earnings call. “We do feel in the next few quarters, we can get to about 50,000.”