Indian rupee strengthened against the US dollar on Friday on account of continued selling of the American currency by banks and exporters amid robust macroeconomic data. Data released by the CSO yesterday showed gross domestic product growth in the January-March quarter of 2017-18 was at a seven-quarter high of 7.7%, helping India retain the tag of the world’s fastest growing major economy. Besides, a higher opening in the domestic equity market supported the rupee. However, the dollar’s strength against other currencies overseas capped the gains. On the global front, the euro seemed set to post its first weekly gain in seven weeks on Friday as worries over Italy’s political crisis eased, but the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso were looking frail after Washington went ahead with stiff tariffs on imported steel.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 67.20, stronger by 20 paise from its previous close of 67.40 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 67.3700 and 67.1700 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.45 and for Euro stood at 78.79 on May 31, 2018. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 62.04, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 89.79. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
| May 31, 2018 | 67.4526 | 89.7929 |
| May 30, 2018 | 67.6288 | 89.7028 |
(RBI-Reference Rate)
