Snapping two days losing streak, Indian rupee appreciated against dollar on Tuesday due to increased selling of American currency by exporters and banks. Investors took encouragement with the report that retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) slumped to a series low of 3.17% in January, mainly due to fall in food prices, especially those of vegetables and pulses. Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the Modi government's emphasis is on bold decision making and a clean economy with business friendly environment, the returns of which can be spent on the poor. Besides, foreign fund inflows supported the rupee, but weak trade in domestic equity market capped the gain. On the global front, dollar stumbled against major currencies overseas after U.S. President Donald Trump's national security advisor Michael Flynn quit under scrutiny over whether he discussed the possibility of lifting U.S. sanctions on Russia before Trump took office.
Finally, the rupee ended at 66.92, 9 paise stronger from its previous close of 67.01 on Monday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.98 and 66.90 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.94 and for Euro stood at 71.08 on February 14, 2017. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 59.06, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 83.98.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
