Reversing its two-session fall, Indian rupee bounced back to end higher against the US currency on Friday, on persistent selling of the American currency by exporters. Sentiments turned optimistic as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has unveiled further measures to maintain adequate liquidity in the system with an aim to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. RBI has decided to reduce the fixed rate reverse repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points (bps) from 4.0 per cent to 3.75 per cent with immediate effect. Buying in the domestic equity market along with dollar losing sheen against some other currencies overseas further supported sentiment in the forex market. On the global front, dollar fell on Friday as a report on signs of success in a Covid-19 treatment drug trial as well as early plans to re-open the US economy drove fresh optimism and risk appetite.
Finally, the rupee ended at 76.39, 48 paise stronger from its previous close of 76.87 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 76.62 and 76.35 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 76.74 and for Euro stood at 83.65 on April 16, 2020. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 71.22, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 95.98.
