Indian rupee ended marginally weaker against the US dollar on Tuesday, on account of buying of American currency by banks and importers. Investors turned cautious with report that India’s trade deficit swelled to a 29-month high in April as imports led by gold grew sharper than exports. While imports grew 49% from a year ago to $37.8 billion, buoyed by a 211% rise in gold imports, exports increased 19.7% to $24.6 billion, widening trade deficit to $13.2 billion from $4.8 billion in the year ago period. However, dollar's weakness against other currencies overseas and a robust domestic equity market restricted the rupee's losses. On the global front, dollar slumped against all other major currencies on Tuesday, after reports President Donald Trump shared classified information with top Russian officials at a meeting last week.
Finally, the rupee ended at 64.08, 2 paise weaker from its previous close of 64.06 on Monday. The currency touched a high and low of 64.15 and 64.03 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 64.07 and for Euro stood at 70.55 on May 16, 2017. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 56.52, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 82.77. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
