Indian rupee, post a weak start and subsequent recovery, ended little changed on Friday on the back of losses of other Asian currencies against dollar, while subdued local equities too weighed on the sentiments. However, late hour recovery of markets which cut short most of benchmarks’ losses also led to some recovery of the Indian currency from day’s low. Nevertheless, the currency took a hit after India's trade deficit hit a five-month high in March as merchandise exports fell for a second straight month, while prevailing caution ahead of IIP data to be released later in the session and CPI data next week prevented its uptrend. On the macro-front, while consumer inflation rate is forecasted to have edged up slightly in March due to higher food prices, factory output in February is expected to have risen at its fastest annual pace in five months.
Finally, the rupee ended at 60.17, little changed from its previous close of 60.14 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 60.35 and 60.14 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 60.26 and for Euro stood at 83.73 on April 11, 2014. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 59.20, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 101.0979. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
