Continuing its early weakness from the early trade, Indian rupee depreciated against dollar on Thursday, ahead of the consumer price index (CPI) inflation and index of industrial production (IIP) data due later in the day. Besides, increased demand for the American currency from importers too weighed on the rupee sentiment. However positive local equities restricted any severe fall of the domestic currency. Investors overlooked the UN report which highlighted that despite delay in domestic policy reforms; India’s economy is slowly gaining momentum and is projected to grow by 7.3% this year. On the global front, yen fell on Thursday as investors remained cautious amid speculation that the Bank of Japan could decide to expand its monetary stimulus as soon as next month.
Finally, the rupee ended at 66.62, 6 paise weaker from its previous close at 66.56 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.68 and 66.53 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.59 and for Euro stood at 76.06 on May 12, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.16, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 96.1538. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
