Indian rupee ended marginally higher against dollar on Tuesday, on selling of dollars by banks and exporters. Traders took some support with report that the RBI is considering a proposal for extending the moratorium on bank loans by another three months to help people and industry impacted by the ongoing lockdown to contain COVID-19, with further extension of the nationwide lockdown. Positive trend in equity market too supported the rupee. However, gains remain capped as anxiety remained among the traders with domestic rating agency Icra estimating that the India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) might contract by as much as 20 per cent in the first quarter of current financial year (Q1FY21) and is expected to overcome some lost ground in the remainder of the year but still close FY21 down by up to 2 per cent after the government announced graded relaxations in the lockdown. On the global front, U.S. dollar edged higher for a second consecutive day on Tuesday as traders worried about rising tensions between the United States and China, while the Australian dollar gained thanks to a bounce in oil prices.
Finally, the rupee ended at 75.63, 10 paise stronger from its previous close of 75.73 on Monday. The currency touched a high and low of 75.72 and 75.50 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 75.79 and for Euro stood at 82.83 on May 4, 2020. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 70.99, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 94.21.
