Indian rupee ended marginally higher against dollar on Wednesday due to sustained selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Traders took some sense of relief with ratings agency Moody’s statement that recently introduced goods and services tax (GST) mechanism is still a work in progress that will ultimately result in formalisation of economy. It added that it was a necessary step to help banks and such reforms should continue. However, gains were limited as traders maintained cautious approach ahead of fiscal deficit data for April-December and annual gross domestic product (GDP) data for fiscal year 2017, to be announced later in the day. On the global front, dollar fell by a quarter of a percent on Wednesday, putting it on track for its biggest monthly drop in nearly two years as US President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address failed to offer any comfort to ailing dollar bulls.
Finally, the rupee ended at 63.58, 3 paise stronger from its previous close of 63.61 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 63.75 and 63.55 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 63.68 and for Euro stood at 79.21 on January 31, 2018. While the RBI's reference rate for the Yen stood at 58.60, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 90.35. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
