Indian rupee depreciated for second consecutive session on Wednesday on the back of slide of local equities and incremental dollar demand from state run banks and oil importers. The sentiments soured after provisional data from bourses showed that foreign investors sold Indian shares worth net Rs 1.04 billion ($17.8 million) on Tuesday, their first sales since April 16 However, the local currency is expected to consolidate around present levels while closely monitoring direction of foreign flows into local shares and debt. On the global front, dollar was trading weak against the yen after the Bank of Japan as expected held policy steady at the conclusion of a two-day meeting and maintained its overall upbeat economic assessment while raising its capex view.
Finally, the rupee ended at 58.78, weaker by 15 paise from its previous close of 58.63 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 58.86 and 58.68 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 58.77 and for Euro stood at 80.56 on May 21, 2014. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 58.09, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 99.0199. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
