Indian rupee ended at near 10-week high against US dollar on Thursday, taking its winning streak for second straight session on continued dollar selling by banks and exporters. Sentiments remained up-beat with news that retirement fund body the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation is planning to pump in Rs 22,500 crore in exchange traded funds in 2017-18 following approval from the central board of trustees to increase the equity investment from 10 percent to 15 percent. The rupee sentiment was also boosted as dollar weakened against some currencies overseas along with positive gains in the local equity markets. On the global front, yen rose against dollar after the Federal Reserve policy statement highlighted a tepid inflation outlook fuelling speculation that it is unlikely to hike rates in September.
Finally, the rupee ended at 64.11, 25 paise stronger from its previous close of 64.36 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 64.20 and 64.06 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 64.12 and for Euro stood at 75.20 on July 27, 2017. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 57.74, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 84.21. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
