Indian rupee pared all of its initial losses and ended marginally higher against dollar on Thursday, owing to dollar sale by exporters and banks. Traders took some support with report that India has jumped 13 places in the last one year to earn 130th spot in the latest annual Index of Economic Freedom released by a top American think-tank. In 2017, India with a score of 52.6 points was ranked at 143 among 180 countries, two spots below neighbour Pakistan. Besides, dollar's weakness against other currencies overseas along with positive trend in equity market too supported the rupee. However, gains were limited as investors preferred to remain on sidelines ahead of key economic data -- February IIP and March CPI, to be announced later today. On the global front, dollar held near a two-week low on Thursday against a basket of currencies as investors remained cautious over possible Western military action against Syria, while the euro was also steady before minutes of the ECB's March meeting.
Finally, the rupee ended at 65.25, 6 paise stronger from its previous close of 65.31 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 65.45 and 65.24 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 65.34 and for Euro stood at 80.79 on April 12, 2018. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.15, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 92.70. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
