Indian rupee recovered against the US dollar on Friday after touched a record low of 74.50 per dollar in the initial trade on worries over the fast-spreading Corona virus outbreak across the globe. With the rupee weakening beyond 74 to the dollar level, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Thursday, stepped in to arrest further depreciation of the domestic unit, announcing that it will undertake six-month dollar sell/buy swap to provide liquidity to the foreign exchange market. To begin with, it will offer $2 billion on March 16. Though, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,475.29 crore on Thursday, exchange data showed. On the global front, US dollar stood tall as investors scrambled for the world's most liquid currency amid deepening panic about the corona virus outbreak while the euro nursed losses after the European Central Bank disappointed investors by not cutting rates. The greenback held gains against most currencies after a blowout in swap spreads showed investors are facing a shortage of dollars as equity markets plunged on fears about the economic impact of the flu-like virus.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 74.01, stronger by 27 paise from its previous close of 74.28 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 74.5050 and 73.8900 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 73.81 and for Euro stood at 83.79 on March 11, 2020. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 70.64, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 95.46.
