The Indian rupee painfully collapses beyond Rs 94 per dollar mark on Monday for the first time ever, pressured by spiralling global crude prices and unabated foreign fund outflows unnerved investors. A strengthening US dollar and a steep decline in the domestic equity markets further weakened the local unit. The rupee breached the 94/dollar barrier for the first time, slumping 50 paise to a new record closing low of 94.03 (provisional) against the greenback. At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 93.84 and kept losing ground throughout the day, before breaching the 94-mark against the US dollar for the first time to settle at 94.03 (provisional), down 50 paise from its previous close. The Indian benchmark indices experienced a significant crash on Monday, March 23, 2026, with both the Sensex and Nifty 50 ending deep in the red due to escalating geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran and surging crude oil prices. BSE Sensex: settled at 72,696.39, plunging 1,836.57 points or 2.46% while NSE Nifty 50 ended at 22,512.65, falling 601.85 points or 2.60%. Meanwhile, RBI noted in its monthly bulletin that India’s foreign exchange reserves remain adequate, providing cover for goods imports for 11.2 months and around 95 per cent of the external debt outstanding.