Indian rupee ended lower on Thursday due to sustained demand for dollar from banks and importers. Investors remained cautious with the private report indicating that headline inflation is expected to continue its rally through the rest of this fiscal, while WPI is likely to average 3.9 per cent, CPI will average close to 5 per cent in 2016-17. However, strong gains in the equity market restricted the rupee losses. On the global front, the dollar eked out some gains against the yen, with traders cautious about pushing the Japanese currency much higher amid expectations that the Bank of Japan could intervene.
Finally the rupee ended at 66.81, weaker by 5 paise from its previous close of 66.76 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.86 and 66.75 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.79 and for Euro stood at 75.58 on August 18, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 66.84, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 87.26.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
