Indian rupee extending its weakness for the second day, depreciated against dollar on the last trading session of the week after the weak macroeconomic data. IIP growth plunged to 0.1% in March due to poor performance of manufacturing and mining sectors coupled with a sharp decline in the output of capital goods, while retail inflation soared to 5.39% in April on higher food prices, reversing a downward trend seen in recent months. Besides, increased demand for the American currency from importers and losses in the local equity market too dampened the rupee sentiment. On the global front, dollar hit a two-week high against a basket of currencies on Friday, boosted by the hope that the U.S. Federal Reserve is still on track to raise rates before any other major central bank.
Finally, the rupee ended at 66.77, 15 paise weaker from its previous close at 66.62 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.82 and 66.71 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.76 and for Euro stood at 75.72 on May 13, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.47, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 96.1557. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
