Indian rupee ended unchanged compared to its previous close as traders turned cautious ahead of the release of US employment and payrolls data on January 6, 2017. Sentiments remained dampened with the report of Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley indicated that India appears to be much better placed with improved macro-economic fundamentals, as measures to eliminate shadow economy and tax evasion are expected to have positive impact on GDP. Some pessimism also came with President Pranab Mukherjee issuing a note of caution that the Narendra Modi government’s demonetization decision could likely lead to a temporary slowdown in the economy and hurt the poor. Besides, dollar’s strength against other currencies overseas, along with some losses in the domestic equity market also weighed on the rupee sentiments.
Finally, the rupee ended unchanged from its previous close of 67.96 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 68.03 and 67.80 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.95 and for Euro stood at 71.86 on January 6, 2017. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 58.50, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 84.09.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
