Indian rupee strengthened against the US dollar on Thursday on account of fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. Besides, weakness in the dollar against some other currencies overseas too supported the rupee’s uptrend. Furthermore, a higher opening in the domestic equity market also influenced the local unit’s up move. On the global front, the dollar lost momentum on Thursday after the double-whammy of dovish-looking minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting and the threat by US President Donald Trump of imposing new tariffs on imported cars. The minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s meeting appeared to have reassured investors that the central bank will not be too aggressive with raising interest rates.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 68.36, stronger by 5 paise from its previous close of 68.41 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 68.3775 and 68.2900 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 68.21 and for Euro stood at 80.24 on May 23, 2018. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.74, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 91.42. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
| May 23, 2018 | 68.2139 | 91.4271 |
| May 22, 2018 | 68.0187 | 91.2471 |
(RBI-Reference Rate)
