0415 GMT - The Indian rupee could strengthen towards 89 and even closer to 88 against the U.S. dollar in the next few weeks following the bilateral trade deal, say Rohit Garg and Gordon Goh at Citi. U.S. President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Modi announced a tariff deal on social media whereby the tariff imposed by the U.S. on India will be brought down to 18% from 50% earlier, they note. "Overall, we believe USD/INR could reach 89 in the short term (vs. our previous short-term forecast of 90.5)," they say. However, in the medium term, USD/INR should still remain a bit above 90 versus Citi's current 6-12 month forecast of 92 given the need for the Reserve Bank of India to recoup reserves, they say. USD/INR is last at 90.34, LSEG data show. (monica.gupta@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 02, 2026 23:15 ET (04:15 GMT)

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