After yesterday's steep losses, Indian rupee gained ground against dollar and ended marginally higher on Thursday, due to selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Sentiments turned optimistic with report stating that India’s direct tax collections for the last financial year crossed the Rs 10 lakh crore mark, registering an increase of 18 per cent over the previous fiscal. Some optimism also came with report stating that India has moved one notch higher, to the 44th place in terms of competitiveness, in the annual rankings compiled by International Institute for Management Development (IMD) which placed the US in the top slot. Besides, splendid gains of local equities along with dollar’s slide against some currencies overseas, too supported the rupee. On the global front, dollar was weaker on Thursday, hurt by concerns about a global trade war and uncertainty over the planned U.S.-North Korea summit.
Finally, the rupee ended at 68.34, 7 paise stronger from its previous close of 68.41 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 68.42 and 68.29 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 68.38 and for Euro stood at 80.14 on May 24, 2018. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 62.40, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 91.44. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
