Indian rupee weakened on Thursday due to fresh demand for American currency from banks and importers. The domestic currency remained weak since opening tracking weakness in the other Asian currency markets. Investors failed to get solace with Minister for Road Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari’s statement that it’s the right time for investing in India. He added that the country is working on ways to improve purchasing power of common men as that will help to boost further opportunities. Investors also remained anxious ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Friday and waited for more clarity in an uncertain global scenario. On the global front, dollar rallied against other major currencies overseas on Thursday as dealers took a speech by Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen as a hint that US rates will rise further this year.
Finally, the rupee ended at 68.12, 5 paise weaker from its previous close of 68.07 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 68.26 and 68.11 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 68.17 and for Euro stood at 72.51on January 19, 2017. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 59.48, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 83.69.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
