Rising for the second straight day, Indian rupee ended marginally higher against dollar on Monday, owing to dollar sale by exporters and banks. Traders took support with CII’s Business Confidence Index climbing to 59.7 during October-December 2017, against 58.3 in the previous quarter, as reform measures such as the Goods and Services Tax instilled optimism in India Inc. Some optimism also came with data showing that direct Tax collections, which comprise personal income and corporate tax, surged 14.4 percent to Rs 4.8 lakh crore in the first eight months ending November 2017, mainly on account of income tax mop-up from individuals. However, gains were limited as some caution lingered in the market ahead of release of crucial macro-economic data- October IIP and November CPI data, which are scheduled to be released tomorrow. On the global front, dollar edged lower on Monday on disappointing US wages data that analysts said could weigh on the pace of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve next year.
Finally, the rupee ended at 64.36, 9 paise stronger from its previous close of 64.45 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 64.46 and 64.31 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 64.36 and for Euro stood at 75.80 on December 11, 2017. While the RBI's reference rate for the Yen stood at 56.68, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 86.32. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
