Indian rupee declined further for the second consecutive day, lost considerable ground on Friday, on increased demand for the American currency from importers and banks amid weakness in the domestic equity market. The domestic currency remained weak since morning, weighed down by firmness in dollar against some other global currencies. Sentiments also remained down with the report that the country-wide monsoon deficit stood at 4% with northeastern and eastern states reporting 13% less rains from June 1 to September 7, 2016. India mostly remained dry during last week, with many areas receiving scanty rainfall. June witnessed a rain deficiency of 11%, while July had 7% of surplus rainfall. August again witnessed a dip of 9.7%. Further, investors remained cautious ahead of July Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data due to be released after the market hours. On the global front, dollar rose against the yen after North Korea's latest nuclear test pulled cash into the perceived safety of the Japanese currency, at the end of a week that has provided little clear direction for currency investors returning from U.S. and European summer breaks.
Finally the rupee ended at 66.68, weaker by 25 paise from its previous close of 66.43 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.75 and 66.52 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.55 and for Euro stood at 75.02 on September 9, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 65.13, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 88.59.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
