Rupee rises 0.2% as Jio's $3.2 billion IPO opens
Key Facts
The Indian rupee rose in early trading on October 21, 2026, as Jio Platforms' initial public offering opened and investors awaited related inflows. The dollar fell 0.2% against the Indian currency to 94.57 rupees, according to Investing.com. The website linked support for the rupee to expected inflows from the offering, which Reuters valued at $3.2 billion. Reuters said the IPO was "fully subscribed in less than two hours" after public bidding opened. The currency also drew support from dollar sales by India's central bank, according to the agency.
The offering includes a fresh issue of up to 270,000,000 shares, according to the prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Coverage published by Investing.com before the IPO opened put the price band at between 1,065 and 1,119 rupees per share. The upper end of that range values the company at about $108 billion, according to the coverage published on October 17. Jio plans to use the proceeds to prepay some Reliance Jio Infocomm loans and for general corporate purposes. The prospectus says those loans may be prepaid "in full or in part". Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund holds a 2.31% stake before the offering, according to the prospectus.
Offsetting support from the IPO, higher oil prices kept investors cautious about the rupee's outlook, according to Reuters' report on the currency session. Brent crude futures were up 1.3%, taking them above $110 a barrel. Oil pressures coincided with an acceleration in Indian retail inflation to 5.54% in September, according to the agency. Inflation exceeded expectations while minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting were still awaited. The monetary policy backdrop included an interest rate increase and a shift to calibrated tightening, according to a Reserve Bank of India statement.
On external trade, India's merchandise exports reached $44.40 billion in September, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The ministry compared that with exports of $36.08 billion in the same month a year earlier. Merchandise imports in September totalled $74.61 billion, against $69.08 billion in the same period a year earlier. The ministry identified electronics, petroleum products, organic and inorganic chemicals, and engineering goods as key drivers of export growth. Both exports and imports thus rose year on year, with the import bill continuing to exceed merchandise export earnings.
The widening merchandise trade deficit extended to the April-September period of the current fiscal year, according to India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The deficit for that period of fiscal year 2026-27 was about $177.64 billion. It had stood at $156.88 billion in the corresponding period of fiscal year 2025-26. In services, the ministry estimated a trade surplus of about $102.71 billion for April-September of the current fiscal year. That compares with a surplus of $98.77 billion in the corresponding previous period, with the services surplus increasing as the merchandise trade deficit widened.
Domestic attention is turning to the Monetary Policy Committee meeting minutes due on October 21, which investors were awaiting at the time of Reuters' rupee report. The minutes follow September's higher-than-expected inflation reading. Jio's IPO continues during this period and is scheduled to close on October 23, 2026, according to the timetable in the prospectus. After it closes, markets await monetary policy decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan. Those decisions are scheduled for October 28 to 30, according to Investing.com.