MUMBAI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee was largely flat on Friday, squeezed between a broadly firmer dollar and likely central bank intervention, which also dulled the pressure from weakness in local stocks.

The rupee was at 91.9450 per dollar as of 10:45 a.m. IST, up marginally from its close at 91.9550 previous session.

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The currency hit a record low of 91.9850 on Thursday and is on course for a monthly decline. The central bank's intervention helped the rupee hold above the 92 handle on Friday, similar to the previous session.

"With USD/INR hovering near 92.00, this level remains the key near-term pivot. A sustained break above it could open the door toward 92.20–92.50," said Amit Pabari, managing director at FX advisory firm CR Forex.

The rupee is down about 2.3% so far in January and is headed for its worst monthly performance since September 2022, pressured by weaker foreign capital inflows, elevated importer hedging activity and heightened dollar demand from banks linked to bullion imports.

Traders and analysts reckon that the pressure on the rupee will persist in the near term and a breakthrough in U.S.-India trade negotiations or a recovery in foreign portfolio inflows will help turn around the currency's fortunes.

Foreign investors have net sold about $4 billion of local stocks in January.

On Friday, India's benchmark equity index, the BSE Sensex (.BSESN) , opens new tab, was down about 0.4%, while the Nifty 50 (.NSEI) , opens new tab fell 0.5%, tracking a decline in MSCI's gauge of Asian shares outside of Japan.

The dollar index was up 0.3% at 96.5 after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would soon announce his nominee to head the Federal Reserve and on optimism Washington will avert a government shutdown.

Bloomberg News reported on Friday that the Trump administration is preparing to nominate Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair.

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-leans-rbi-soften-impact-flows-weak-asian-cues-2026-01-30/