Indian rupee depreciated to lowest level in more than a month on Monday on account of dollar demand from oil importers and from traders looking to square off their short dollar position. The currency depreciated past perilous ‘60/$’ level tracing a surge in crude oil prices, which threatened to put pressure on domestic inflation and country's current account deficit, while losses of local equities also weighed on the sentiment. However, RBI’s intervention prevented further losses of local currency. On the global front, dollar dipped versus the yen on Monday taking cues from weaker Tokyo equities, although potentially decisive events such as the Federal Reserve meeting midweek limited movements.
Finally the rupee ended at 60.16, weaker by 39 paise from its previous close of 59.77 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 60.23 and 59.84 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 60.00 and for Euro stood at 81.25 on June 16, 2014. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 58.96, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 101.9980. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
