Indian rupee ended marginally weaker against dollar on Wednesday, on increased demand for the US currency from importers. Traders remained cautious with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) stating that the coronavirus pandemic may have pushed as many as 80 million people in developing Asia into extreme poverty last year, threatening to derail progress on global goals to tackle poverty and hunger by 2030. The domestic currency was also weighed down by dollar's strengthen against some other currencies overseas. However, losses remain capped as traders found some solace with Minister of State of Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel’s statement that India is likely to record exports worth $46 billion to the ASEAN region. She noted that as one of the largest destinations for Indian exports, the Association of South East Asian Nations will be an important region for India in meeting the global export target of $400 billion in financial year 2021-22. On the global front, the safe-haven dollar gained on Wednesday to trade above a one-week low versus major peers amid concerns that the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant could derail a global economic recovery.
Finally, the rupee ended 74.24, weaker by 5 paise from its previous close of 74.19 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 74.30 and 74.20 respectively.
