Extending losses for the second straight session, Indian rupee ended at 1-month low as against the US dollar on Tuesday. Sentiments remained down-beat after government report showed that Core sector output in the month of November slowed down to 4.9% from 6.6% in October and 5.01% in September, mainly due to decline in production of crude oil and natural gas. Though, it was higher than the 0.6% growth seen in November 2015, on the back of healthy performance by sectors, including coal, steel and electricity. Traders remained cautious ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on January 5, 2017. The minutes will be closely watched for signs of any potential change in the fiscal policy and any impact on the US monetary policy. Besides, dollar strengthened against other currencies overseas, also weighed on rupee sentiments. On the global front, US dollar racked up its biggest rise in two weeks in 2017's first full day of European trading on Tuesday, as dealers and investors in London returned to push the greenback to within 1 per cent of December's long-term highs.
Finally, the rupee ended at 68.32, 9 paise weaker from its previous close of 68.23 on Monday. The currency touched a high and low of 68.37 and 68.05 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 68.08 and for Euro stood at 71.38 on January 3, 2017. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 58.03, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 83.75.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
