Extending its weakness for the third straight session, Indian rupee depreciated against dollar on Monday on continued dollar demand from importers. Besides, gains in American currency overseas also put pressure on the rupee. Meanwhile, investors remained cautious on report that India’s exports dipped by 6.74 percent to $20.5 billion in April on account of sharp fall in shipments of petroleum and engineering products amid tepid global demand. However, positive local equity market and gains in the Asian currencies capped the rupee losses to some extent. On the global front, yen eased on Monday as Japan stepped up its threat of intervention in the currency market before the Group of Seven meeting it will host this week.
Finally, the rupee ended at 66.80, 3 paise weaker from its previous close at 66.77 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.90 and 66.72 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.82 and for Euro stood at 75.59 on May 16, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.45, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 95.9625. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
