Continuing gaining rally, Indian rupee strengthened marginally against dollar on Monday, owing to dollar sale by exporters and banks. Sentiments were positive as a member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank, Jayanth R Varma expressed hope that in a few quarters from now, capital investment would begin to pick up even in the old economy, and said the next fiscal year is also expected to witness a decent growth. However, upside remained capped as country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $160 million to stand at $635.667 billion in the week to December 17. During the reporting week ended December 17, the dip in the forex kitty was on account of a decline in foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves. On the global front, dollar was range bound, despite a hawkish turn at the Federal Reserve that saw policymakers signalling three quarter-point rate hikes next year.
Finally, the rupee ended 75.00 (Provisional), stronger by 3 paise from its previous close of 75.03 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 75.16 and 74.95 respectively.
