Indian rupee appreciating for fifth consecutive session ended stronger against dollar on Monday on increased selling of US currency by banks and exporters, tracking the fall in international crude oil prices and gains in local equity market. Sentiments remained up-beat on report that the government is hopeful about a substantial portion of pending legislative business being completed in the remaining three days of the Winter Session, where 18 bills are pending. Some support also came with Moody’s Investors Service describing India’s focus on foreign direct investment (FDI) as ‘credit positive’. On the global front, the dollar weakened against the yen on Monday as demand for the safe haven Japanese currency grew on declines in world equities and oil prices.
Finally, the rupee ended at 66.35, 5 paise stronger against its previous close of 66.40 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.36 and 66.26 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.32 and for Euro stood at 72.13 on December 21, 2015. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 54.67 the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 98.9886. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
