Indian rupee, appreciated for second consecutive session on Thursday due to selling of American currency by banks and exporters. The domestic currency looked strong from the very beginning and was supported by strong gains in the local equity markets. Sentiments remained optimistic with the private report indicating that the government is expected to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of GDP in the current financial year, despite recent demonetisation move and potential delay in roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expressing confidence that direct and indirect tax mop-up will surpass Budget estimate of Rs 16.3 lakh crore by March-end. Weakness of dollar against the some major currencies overseas too gave the rupee some relief. On the global front, dollar continued to its sharp move lower on Thursday, extending weakness from the prior session when Federal Reserve minutes pointed to a number of risks that could change the path for interest rates.
Finally, the rupee ended at 67.96, 9 paise stronger from its previous close of 68.05 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 67.99 and 67.76 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.78 and for Euro stood at 71.55 on January 5, 2017. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 58.33, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 83.70.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
