Indian rupee continued its upward march for the third straight session on Thursday, on persistent selling of the American currency by exporters. Traders took note of a report that India has further strengthened its position of being a net importer of oil during the five years of the Modi government, floundering on an ambitious plan that entailed reducing country's import dependency of oil by 10 per cent by 2022. However, gains remain capped as Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned that trade tensions and political uncertainty including BREXIT are weighing on the world’s economy. OECD lowered its forecast to 3.3 per cent for this year, down from the 3.5 per cent it predicted in November, which was itself a downgrade from a previous 3.7 per cent. On the global front, euro took a breather on Thursday as investors prepared for the European Central Bank meeting, with many hoping any signals it will add fresh stimulus into the economy could inject some life into currencies stuck in trading ranges.
Finally, the rupee ended at 70.00, 28 paise stronger from its previous close of 70.28 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 70.15 and 69.94 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 70.02 and for Euro stood at 79.17 on March 7, 2019. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 62.66, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 92.25.
