Indian rupee ended substantially stronger against American currency after the US Federal Reserve decided against lifting interest. Domestic currency got some support with the report that country’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $ 0.3 billion, or 0.1 percent of GDP, in the first quarter of 2016-17, significantly lower than $ 6.1 billion or 1.2 percent of GDP in Q1 of 2015-16, on account of lower trade gap. Besides, increased foreign fund inflows in the local equity market coupled with dollar weakness against some other currencies overseas, also aided to the positive milieu of Indian currency. On the global front, dollar hit a near 4-week low against the yen on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve kept monetary policy steady and projected a less aggressive path for interest rates hikes in coming years.
Finally, the rupee ended at 66.67, 35 paise stronger from its previous close of 67.02 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.89 and 66.67 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.85 and for Euro stood at 75.02 on September 22, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 66.65, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 87.34.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
