Indian rupee strengthened against dollar in early deals on Wednesday, deriving cues from sharp fall in oil prices and softness in US dollar against the basket of currencies. Besides, selling of the US currency by exporters and banks, a higher opening in domestic stock markets and RBI’s involvement in the Forex markets has also supported Indian rupee. Rupee firmed further after the current account deficit (CAD) for the September quarter narrowed on year on year basis. India’s CAD narrowed to $8.2 billion (1.6% of gross domestic product) in the September quarter from $10.9 billion (2.2% of GDP) in the year-ago quarter.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 66.21, stronger by 12 paise from its previous close of 66.33 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.28 and 66.2050 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.29 and for Euro stood at 72.33 on December 22, 2015. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 54.68 the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 98.7052. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
| December 22, 2015 | 66.2985 | 98.7052 |
| December 21, 2015 | 66.3240 | 98.9886 |
(RBI-Reference Rate)
