Indian rupee extending weakness for the second day declined substantially on Wednesday, due to dollar demand from banks and importers. The overnight inflation and manufacturing data released in the US increased the chances of an interest rate hike in US Fed's forthcoming rate-setting meet in December predominantly pressurizing the local unit. Besides, the weak trade in the local equity markets too hit the sentiment of the domestic currency. Investors overlooked the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that low oil prices have created a favourable environment for the Indian economy as it helped to absorb the loss faced by state-run marketers and kept inflation under control. On the global front, dollar slipped against a basket of currencies on Wednesday but remained close to a seven-month peak as markets awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve's recent policy meeting which could reinforce expectations of a rate hike next month.
Finally, the rupee ended at 66.30, 27 paise weaker from its previous close of 66.03 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.32 and 66.09 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.11 and for Euro stood at 70.39 on November 18, 2015. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 53.63 the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 100.5128. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
