Indian rupee depreciated against the US dollar on Monday due to fresh demand for the American currency from banks and importers. Rupee sentiments was hit after the industry body ASSOCHAM in its latest report has said that prospects of interest rate cut in near future may be bleak due to factors like continuous pressure on rupee against dollar, firming of the US interest rates and hardening of crude oil prices. Besides, foreign fund outflows coupled with concerns of an expected jump in US interest rates next year also weighed on the rupee sentiment. However, dollar weakened against some currencies overseas because of the mounting tension between the US and China capped the losses. On the global front, dollar retreated from a 10-month high against the yen ahead of a monetary policy decision by the Bank of Japan on Tuesday.
Finally, the rupee ended at 67.86, 10 paise weaker from its previous close of 67.76 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 67.95 and 67.70 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.72 and for Euro stood at 70.84 on December 19, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 57.73, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 84.54.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
