Indian rupee weakened on Wednesday due to fresh demand for American currency from banks and importers. Traders remained concerned with report that India slipped to the 6th position globally in the business optimism index for the first quarter of this year. The business sentiment in India has been the weakest since 2014 in the first quarter, the report also stated that the confidence has been shaken since the third quarter of 2017 with weakening currency and a surge in oil prices. Some anxiety also spread among the investors with a survey showing that touching a four-year low, optimism level among Chief Financial Officers about the country’s financial and macro-economic conditions for the second quarter of this year has declined nearly 18%. The composite CFO Optimism Index declined 17.8%, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, to 96.2 for the second quarter of 2018. On the global front, dollar strengthened against major global currencies overseas as crude oil prices zoomed past $76 per barrel level and pushed Treasury yields higher after US President Donald Trump pulled out from the international nuclear deal with Iran.
Finally, the rupee ended at 67.27, 19 paise weaker from its previous close of 67.08 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 67.48 and 67.22 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.38 and for Euro stood at 79.74 on May 09, 2018. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.49, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 91.08. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
