Indian rupee ended considerably weaker to hit a fresh five-month low against dollar on Monday, as the country’s trade deficit widened more than estimated in March. As per the data, India’s trade deficit widened 28.5% to $13.7 billion in March, taking the annual deficit to $87.2 billion, amid concerns over global trade. Besides, India’s exports fell by 0.66% in the month of March 2018 after four months of continues rise. Investors overlooked report that inflation based on wholesale prices eased marginally to 2.47% in March from 2.48% in February and 5.11% in March last year, on falling prices of food items, especially vegetables and pulses. However, weakness in the dollar against some other currencies overseas along with gains in equity markets capped further losses in rupee. On the global front, the dollar slipped against the yen on Monday as markets assessed the fallout from US-led missile strikes on Syria on Friday, but losses were limited amid expectations that the conflict would not escalate further.
Finally, the rupee ended at 65.49, 28 paise weaker from its previous close of 65.21 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 65.51 and 65.33 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 65.44 and for Euro stood at 80.73 on April 16, 2018. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.02, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 93.27. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
