Breaching the psychological 70 per dollar mark, Indian rupee ended at record low closing level against dollar on Thursday, hurt by fresh demand for the American currency from importers. The rupee sentiments were hit on report that India’s trade deficit soared to a near five-year high of $18 billion. The commerce ministry data showed that the country’s exports rose by 14.32% to $25.77 billion in July mainly on account of better performance of gems and jewellery sector as well as petroleum products, while imports during July were valued at $43.79 billion, a growth of 28.81% compared to $33.99 billion in the year ago period. Additionally, a firm dollar against some global currencies overseas along with sharp losses in the local equities also pressurized the sentiments. However, the local currency recovered from its all-time low of 70.40 to come off day’s lows, as some optimism remained among the traders with FICCI’s latest Economic Outlook Survey stating that the Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.4% in the current fiscal, higher than the previous year. On the global front, euro recovered on Thursday from its weakest since late June 2017 and the dollar fell after news that a Chinese delegation will travel to the United States for trade talks, with investors buying back into currencies hit hard in the recent sell-off.
Finally, the rupee ended at 70.16, 27 paise weaker from its previous close of 69.89 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 70.40 and 70.14 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 70.22 and for Euro stood at 79.97 on August 16, 2018. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 63.35, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 89.36. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
