Indian rupee strengthened sharply on Friday after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced larger than expected measures to stimulate the region’s sagging economy, which in turned bolstered the appeal of all the emerging market assets, including Indian currency. Besides, selling of the American currency by exporters, continued overseas capital inflows and soaring domestic equity markets also supported the sentiment. On the global front, euro wallowed near an 11-year low on Friday after suffering a massive decline as the European Central Bank launched a stimulus programme that would pump hundreds of billions in new money into a sagging euro zone economy.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 61.50, stronger by 20 paise from its previous close of 61.70 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 61.53 and 61.35 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 61.69 and for Euro stood at 71.48 on January 22, 2015. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 52.17, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 93.3261. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
| January 22, 2015 | 61.69 | 93.3261 |
| January 21, 2015 | 61.61 | 93.4931 |
(RBI-Reference Rate)
