Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar on Wednesday, followed by strong dollar against select global currencies as US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s upbeat views on the economy bolstered bets on further Fed interest rate hikes this year. Further, sustained month-end demand for the American currency from importers, and foreign fund outflows weighed on the rupee. Rupee was also pressured due to a fall in the domestic markets after state-owned Punjab National Bank said that the amount of fraudulent transactions could go up by around $204 million. Moreover, investors were cautious ahead of GDP numbers to be released later on today.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 65.07, weaker by 18 paise from its previous close of 64.89 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 65.1350 and 65.0450 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 64.85 and for Euro stood at 79.96 on February 27, 2018. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 60.71, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 90.58. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
| February 27, 2018 | 64.8514 | 90.5844 |
| February 26, 2018 | 64.6639 | 90.6523 |
(RBI-Reference Rate)
