Indian rupee depreciated to near fourteen-month low against dollar on Wednesday, on bouts of month-end dollar demand from importers amid crude price volatility and rising US bond yields. Sentiments remained sluggish with report that India is likely to face greater pressure to eliminate duties on 90% of goods it trades with China under the mega trade agreement among 16 Asia Pacific countries that is in the works. Traders even overlooked private brokerage report stating that Indian economy is expected to witness a cyclical recovery driven by investments as well as consumption, and the average GDP growth is expected to rise to 7.8% in the first half of this year. Moreover, persistent fall in equity markets together with dollar rose to a position of strength overseas added some extra pressure. On the global front, dollar hit a four-month high on Wednesday after a rise in benchmark US Treasury yields above 3% rattled some currency bears while a mixed picture from business surveys failed to help the euro before a European Central Bank meeting.
Finally, the rupee ended at 66.90, 52 paise weaker from its previous close of 66.38 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.90 and 66.48 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.69 and for Euro stood at 81.42 on April 25, 2018. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.12, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 93.13. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
