Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar on Thursday due to increased demand for the American currency from importers amid heavy foreign fund outflows. Besides, the dollar’s gain against major world currencies also impacted the rupee sentiment. Further, weak domestic equity markets, too weighed the sentiment. On the global front, the dollar rose to a one-week high against a basket of major currencies on Thursday, after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January 30-31 meeting showed policymakers were more confident of the need to keep raising interest rates. A more upbeat take on inflation in the minutes of the Fed’s January policy meeting bolstered expectations for rate hikes. US short-term interest-rate futures continued to reflect firm expectations that the Fed will raise rates three times this year.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 65.01, weaker by 24 paise from its previous close of 64.77 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 65.1000 and 64.9550 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 64.81 and for Euro stood at 79.94 on February 21, 2018. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 60.17, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 90.65. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
| February 21, 2018 | 64.8161 | 90.6583 |
| February 20, 2018 | 64.5254 | 90.1291 |
(RBI-Reference Rate)
