Extending weakness for the second day, Indian rupee depreciated considerably against dollar on Thursday, on increased demand for the US currency from importers. Traders remain concerned with the government data showing that India's exports dipped by 34.57% to $21.41 billion in March, while Imports fell by 28.72% to $31.16 billion. Besides, trade deficit narrowed to $9.76 billion in March this year from $11 billion in the same month last year. Sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the country along with dollar’s strength against major global currencies overseas also weighed on the domestic unit. Traders failed to get respite with NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) will see strong recovery from the second quarter (Q2) of the current fiscal year (FY21) as economic activities resume. On the global front, dollar edged higher against its peers on Thursday after dire retail and factory data showed the severity of the collapse in U.S. economic activity caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Finally, the rupee ended at 76.87, 43 paise weaker from its previous close of 76.44 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 76.87 and 76.68 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 76.27 and for Euro stood at 83.60 on April 15, 2020. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 71.23, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 95.97.
