India's Forex Reserves Fall To $657.89 Billion In Seventh Consecutive Drop

India's foreign exchange reserves declined to $657.89 billion for the week ended Nov. 15, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India on Friday.

The country's forex kitty fell by $17.7 billion over the previous reporting week. The forex reserves fell for the seventh week after it reached a record high of $704.89 billion in the week ended Sept. 27.

In the previous reporting week, the reserves had dropped by $6.47 billion to $675.65 billion.

Foreign investors have pumped in Rs 1.27 lakh crore into the country's debt and equity markets so far this year, according to data from the National Securities Depository Ltd.

The month of November so far has seen Rs 33,538 crore make its way out of Indian bonds and equities, while in October FPIs pulled Rs 96,358 crore out of the Indian markets. In the same period, the Indian rupee has been under pressure amid a strong dollar and incessant foreign outflows. The RBI typically intervenes in the currency market using its dollar reserve to stabilise the local currency from high volatility.

For the week ended Nov. 15, foreign currency assets—a major component of the reserves—fell to $569.84 billion, according to the RBI data.

In dollar terms, foreign currency assets include the effect of the appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound, and yen held in foreign exchange reserves.

Gold reserves decreased to $65.75 billion during the week.

As of Friday, gold prices, which were hammered following the US presidential election, continued their recovery in the wake of fresh escalation in Russia-Ukraine tensions. The precious metal edged closer to the $2,700 mark—a level last seen on Nov. 5, before Donald Trump's victory in the electoral race to the White House.

The Indian gold futures also surged in view of the global headwinds, with the December contracts rising by 0.91% to trade at Rs 77,410 per 10 grams on the Multi Commodity Exchange at 1:47 p.m.

In the Indian retail market, 24-karat gold was trading 0.6% higher at Rs 77,406 per 10 grams, according to the India Bullion Jewellers Association Ltd.