The rupee surrendered most of its previous session’s gains and fell 43 paise to close at 95.61 against the US dollar on Monday weighed down by a sharp rise in crude oil prices and a stronger greenback amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, PTI reported.Forex traders said risk aversion in global markets, higher crude prices and a firmer US dollar put pressure on the domestic currency.At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.35 and moved between an intraday high of 95.15 and a low of 95.75 against the American currency. It eventually settled at 95.61, down 43 paise from Friday’s close.The decline comes after the rupee had appreciated 56 paise on Friday following the Reserve Bank of India’s measures to boost foreign capital inflows and strengthen forex liquidity.Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six major currencies, was trading 0.09% higher at 100.16.Brent crude surged 3.94% to $96.76 per barrel in futures trade after Iran launched multiple rounds of missiles towards Israel.“We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on escalating geopolitical tensions between the US, Israel, and Iran and rising crude oil prices. A strong dollar and rise in US treasury yields may also pressurise the rupee,” said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset ShareKhan, PTI quoted him as saying.Choudhary added that any intervention by the Reserve Bank could provide support at lower levels. He expects the USD-INR spot rate to trade in a range of 95.40 to 96.10.Dilip Parmar, Senior Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, said the rupee erased most of Friday’s gains as rising tensions in the Middle East fuelled a rally in crude oil prices and boosted demand for safe-haven assets.“Additionally, robust US jobs data has revived expectations that the FOMC may raise interest rates, further dampening risk appetite and boosting the US dollar. In the near term, spot USD-INR is expected to consolidate within a range of 94.50 to 96.50,” Parmar said.On the domestic equity front, the Sensex plunged 719.08 points to close at 73,524.26, while the Nifty dropped 243.70 points to 23,123.Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 5,555.67 crore on a net basis during the session, according to exchange data.Separately, Reserve Bank data released on Monday showed India recorded a current account surplus of $7.1 billion, or 0.7% of GDP, in the January-March quarter of FY26, aided by higher services exports and remittance inflows.For the full fiscal year, however, the current account deficit stood at $25.2 billion, or 0.6% of GDP, compared with $22.9 billion, or 0.6% of GDP in FY25.Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate against Iran’s latest missile barrage, warning that such a move could jeopardise ongoing negotiations aimed at ending the three-month-long conflict, according to media reports.