Indian rupee ended considerably lower against dollar on Monday on emergence of demand for the greenback from importers and higher US bond yields. Sentiments were impacted despite report that India’s exports grew 16.22 percent YoY to $6.21 billion in the first week of January, mainly driven by healthy growth in pharmaceuticals, and engineering sectors, reflecting signs of revival. Imports during January 1-7 this year too increased by 1.07 percent to $8.7 billion as against $8.6 billion in the same period of 2020. On the global front; dollar gained broadly on Monday as widening U.S. Treasury yields and expectations of more fiscal stimulus lifted the greenback against its rivals, with the euro falling to a two-week low.
Finally, the rupee ended at 73.40, 16 paise weaker from its previous close of 73.24 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 73.50 and 73.37 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 73.33, and for Euro stood 89.94 on January 08, 2021. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 70.60, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 99.52.
