Indian rupee ended weaker against the US dollar on Thursday, on increased demand for the greenback from importers and banks. Investors remain concerned with WTO's latest Trade Monitoring Report on G20 stating that there is a slowdown in the number of trade restrictive as well as facilitative measures on goods implemented by G-20 member countries between mid-May and mid-October, due to the sharp decline in overall global trade since the COVID-19 outbreak. However, downfall remain capped with former chief economic adviser Arvind Virmani’s statement that India’s Gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to contract 7.5 percent in the current fiscal (FY21) but will see a double-digit growth in 2021-22. On the global front; dollar strengthened on Thursday as broad optimism about COVID-19 vaccines ran into worries about rising infection numbers and risks to the fragile global economic recovery.
Finally, the rupee ended at 74.27, 08 paise weaker from its previous close of 74.19 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 74.33 and 74.22 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 74.36, and for Euro stood 88.28 on November 18, 2020. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 71.49, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 98.60.
