Indian rupee surrendered its early gains and ended weaker against dollar on Monday along with local equity markets. Besides, demand for dollar from banks and importers also hit the rupee sentiment. The domestic currency was strong from the very beginning but lost its momentum in the end. Rupee ended weaker for eighth straight session. Sentiment remained down-beat with RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s statement that India should restrain itself from being ‘too ambitious’ at a time when the world is full of uncertainties and instead focus on sensible policies to ensure a sustainable economic growth. On the global front, euro was pressured in the wake of disappointing EZ flash PMI data that showed economic activity in the continent slowing in May.
Finally, the rupee ended at 67.49, 4 paise weaker from its previous close at 67.45 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 67.49 and 67.25 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.34 and for Euro stood at 75.61 on May 23, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.38, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 97.7641. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
