Indian rupee continued its strong recovery momentum for the fourth consecutive day and ended at a fresh five-month high on Tuesday, on sustained selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. Sentiments got up-beat with report that the eight core industries growing by 6.8% in November 2017, compared to the production during November 2016. The growth in November was driven by a 16.6% increase in steel production over November 2016. Additional support also came with report that the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, or PMI, rose to a 5 year high of 54.7 in December from 52.6 in November. The survey highlighted that strong business performance was underpinned by the fastest expansions in output and new orders since December 2012 and October 2016 respectively. Besides, dollar losing sheen against some other currencies overseas also supported the local unit. On the global front, euro climbed to a four-month high against a broadly weaker dollar on Tuesday, the first trading day of 2018, on optimism over a brightening economic picture in the euro zone.
Finally, the rupee ended at 63.48, 19 paise stronger from its previous close of 63.67 on Monday. The currency touched a high and low of 63.77 and 63.44 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 63.67 and for Euro stood at 76.58 on January 02, 2018. While the RBI's reference rate for the Yen stood at 56.52, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 86.11. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
