Indian rupee was trading stronger against US dollar after a negative start on Thursday. Earlier, the rupee weakened on tracking drop in global markets after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned of extended economic weakness due to the corona virus pandemic. Indian government’s Rs 20 lakh crore Covid-19 economic stimulus packages too failed to cheer domestic investors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this stimulus package is equivalent to about 10% of India’s GDP and will focus on land, labour, liquidity and laws, and will cater to various sectors including the cottage industries, micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs), the working class, middle class and industry, among others. He said the package will also focus on empowering the poor, labourers and migrant workers, both in the organised and unorganised sectors. Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 283.43 crore in the capital market on Wednesday, exchange data showed.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 75.39, stronger by 7 paise from its previous close of 75.46 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 75.5900 and 75.3000 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 75.79 and for Euro stood at 81.95 on May 12, 2020. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 70.52, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 93.40.
