Indian rupee wiped out losses it incurred during the session and ended higher against the American currency on Wednesday, due to increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. This was the second consecutive sessions when the rupee closed higher. The market participants remained optimistic with the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley’s statement that the Government is committed to facilitate trade and industry in the country so that the momentum of the growth continues to move-up. Investors paid no heed towards the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s (CMIE) latest report showing that the unemployment rate in India rose to 7.2% in February 2019, the highest since September 2016, and up from 5.9% in February 2018. The unemployment rate has climbed despite a fall in the number of job seekers. The rupee's rise was also aided by falling crude oil prices along with positive trend in equity market. On the global front, dollar held gains against its peers on Wednesday, thanks to higher US yields and better-than-expected data.
Finally, the rupee ended at 70.28, 21 paise stronger from its previous close of 70.49 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 70.67 and 70.25 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 70.57 and for Euro stood at 79.76 on March 6, 2019. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 63.13, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 92.71.
