Indian rupee strengthened against the dollar on Friday on account of increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Besides, weakness of the dollar against other currencies overseas and higher opening in the domestic equity market also supported the rupee. Meanwhile, traders avoided taking long position ahead of the assembly poll outcome and concerns over an impending Fed rate hike next week. On the global front, the dollar firmed to six-week highs against the yen on Friday, on track for weekly gains against most rivals as investors awaited US job data that is likely to reinforce expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike next week. A surprisingly robust private US jobs report from ADP heightened bets the monthly nonfarm payrolls release later on Friday will give the Fed more reason to raise rates at its March 14-15 meeting - as many central bank officials have recently signaled it intends to do.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 66.67, stronger by 4 paise from its previous close of 66.71 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.7250 and 66.6575 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.77 and for Euro stood at 70.32 on March 9, 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 81.16. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
| March 09, 2017 | 66.7707 | 81.1665 |
| March 08, 2017 | 66.6362 | 81.3162 |
