Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar on Thursday on account of increased demand for the American currency from importers. Besides, the dollar’s strength against other currencies overseas also weighed on the rupee, but a firm domestic equity market capped some losses. Rupee fell further by tracking the losses in the Asian currencies markets. On the global front, the dollar kept broad gains against its major rivals, after rebounding sharply overnight on comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen suggesting US interest rates could be raised quickly this year.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 68.21, weaker by 14 paise from its previous close of 68.07 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 68.2500 and 68.1825 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.93 and for Euro stood at 72.59 on January 18, 2017. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 59.97, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 83.84. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
| January 18, 2017 | 67.9364 | 83.8403 |
| January 17, 2017 | 68.0509 | 82.4573 |
