Mumbai, Dec 12 : The rupee fell to a new record low in early trade on Friday, slipping 24 paise to 90.56 against the US dollar.

The currency came under pressure as uncertainty around the India-US trade deal and continued foreign fund outflows hurt market sentiment.

According to forex traders, the rupee is weakening mainly because importers are aggressively buying dollars amid rising global prices of precious metals.

The strong demand for the US currency is adding to the pressure on the rupee.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.43 against the dollar and soon dropped to 90.56.

This marked a 24-paise decline from Thursdayâ??s closing level. A day earlier, the rupee had already tumbled 38 paise to end at a then-record low of 90.32.

However, looking ahead, experts expect that the Indian Rupee likely to strengthen.

â??We expect the INR to remain below 90 per dollar for the rest of 2025 and gain strength through 2026 to reach around 86 per dollar by the end of next year,â?? they added.

While a weaker rupee can support export-oriented sectors such as IT, pharma, textiles among others -- especially at a time when parts of Indiaâ??s export basket have come under pressure from steep US tariffs -- it simultaneously raises concerns around imported inflation,â?? experts stated.

Despite this, todayâ??s equity strength indicates that the market is temporarily decoupling from currency pressure and prioritising technical resilience, they added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the US dollarâ??s strength against six major currencies, inched up 0.02 per cent to 98.37.

Brent crude prices were also trading higher at USD 61.69 per barrel, up 0.67 per cent in futures trade.

Despite the weakness in the rupee, domestic equity markets were trading in the green. The Sensex rose 170.40 points to 84,988.53, while the Nifty gained 98.40 points to reach 25,996.95.

Foreign Institutional Investors continued to pull out funds, selling equities worth Rs 2,020.94 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

/IANS