Indian rupee ended flat against US dollar on Wednesday ahead of a long Diwali weekend. Additionally, the dollar rose to a position of strength overseas along with weak trade in domestic equity market, mainly pressurised the home unit. Traders failed to get relief with a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC) Surjit Bhalla’s statement that the government is likely to stick to its fiscal deficit target of 3.2 percent of GDP, and may accelerate sales of government stakes in lenders and other companies as part of an effort to recapitalise banks. On the global front, dollar edged higher on Wednesday, as markets awaited further news on the possible appointment of a hawk as Fed chair and progress on US tax reforms.
Finally, the rupee ended unchanged from its previous close of 65.03 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 65.16 and 64.95 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 65.06 and for Euro stood at 76.54 on October 18, 2017. While the RBI's reference rate for the Yen stood at 57.93, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 85.74. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
