Indian rupee, after resuming its appreciating streak after two consecutive sessions of consolidation posted its biggest single-day rise in nearly a week on Thursday, tailing gains in the local equities and other Asian currencies on the back of U.S. Federal Reserve's signal that it would not raise interest rates anytime soon and improved Chinese factory activity. Additionally, the sentiment also was bolstered by reports suggesting of finance ministry working on a proposal to cut the 2014/15 fiscal deficit to 3.8-3.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), below the current target of 4.1%. However, RBI’s intervention to curb rupee’s further appreciation, which off-lately has been aggressively building up its forex reserves, provided a ceiling to currency’s gains. On the global front, yen was on the defensive in early Asian trade on Thursday, having retreated from multi-month highs against the euro and dollar as an improvement in risk appetite dampened demand for the safe haven currency.
Finally, the rupee ended at 58.47, stronger by 31 paise from its previous close of 58.78 on Wednesday. The currency has touched a high and low of 58.69 and 58.41 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 58.57 and for Euro stood at 80.05 on May 22, 2014. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 57.62, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 98.8788. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
