Extending its weakness for the second straight day, Indian rupee depreciated against dollar on Monday due to increased demand for dollar from importers. Besides, strengthening of dollar against other currencies overseas and weakness in the domestic equity market too pressurized the domestic unit. Meanwhile, investors remained cautious ahead of the key gross domestic product (GDP) data for the third quarter (October-December) of 2015-16 due later in the day. Investors failed to draw any solace from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India continues to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world, but there is still potential to grow at a much faster pace. On the global front, dollar rose against the euro and yen as investors looked toward Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s statement for signs of whether markets are underestimating the odds of a near-term interest-rate increase.
Finally, the rupee ended at 67.94, 29 paise weaker from its previous close of 67.65 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 67.96 and 67.77 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.81 and for Euro stood at 75.53 on February 10, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 57.75, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 98.3308. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
