Indian rupee ended marginally weaker against the American currency on Thursday, due to fresh dollar demand from banks and importers. Sentiments remained down-beat with the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) report that monsoon rains in India in the week to September 18 were above average for a third straight week, with floods hitting many districts in the central parts of the country and damaging crops such as soybean and pulses. Heavy losses in domestic equity markets also weighed on the domestic unit. However, losses remain capped as some optimism remained among the traders with Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement that the government is doing everything possible to turn around the Indian economy and bring it back to a high trajectory growth path. On the global front, Japanese yen rallied on Thursday after the Bank of Japan kept interest rates on hold, while the dollar struggled to move higher despite the Federal Reserve offering mixed signals about the path for further easing.
Finally, the rupee ended at 71.34, 10 paise weaker from its previous close of 71.24 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 71.37 and 71.06 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 71.31 and for Euro stood at 78.90 on September 18, 2019. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 65.90, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 89.06.
