India's foreign exchange reserves drop to $734.6 billion after fourth weekly fall

Key facts

• India's foreign exchange reserves fell for a fourth consecutive week to $734.6 billion, down about $50 billion from the recent peak of $785.71 billion on September 4, per a footnote to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra's statement.
• The drawdown reflects the RBI's dollar sales in the spot market to smooth the rupee's decline and sell/buy FX swaps aimed at absorbing surplus liquidity.
• The rupee weakened despite central bank support, pressured by elevated oil prices, rising US Treasury yields and increased foreign equity outflows.
• On Wednesday, the rupee fell nearly 0.5% to 96.8450 per dollar, close to its all-time low of 96.96.