The Indian rupee has pared all its early gains and slipped to its lowest in more than two months on Monday, on the back of dollar demand for oil payments. Lower local shares also added pressure to the rupee. However, worries between Iran and United States is expected to keep demand for dollars strong as Indian companies will look to clear import dues as early as possible before any financial sanctions are imposed on Iran's customers. Meanwhile, investors expect central bank’s intervention to smoothen volatility. The Reserve Bank of India is suspected to have sold dollar on two occasions last week to shore up the currency.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 51.29, weaker by 7 paise from its previous close of 51.22 on Thursday. It has touched a high and a low of 51.30 and 51.09 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at Rs 50.90 and for Euro it stood at Rs 67.4035 on March 22, 2012. While, the RBI's reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.09 the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 80.7718. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
March 22, 2012 | 50.90 | 80.7718 |
March 21, 2012 | 50.59 | 80.3425 |
