Indian rupee ended marginally higher against dollar on Monday, on persistent selling of the American currency by exporters. Some support came with Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal’s statement that Indian rupee has shown more resilience than most of the other currencies in recent years and the compounded average growth rate of depreciation is lower as compared to pre-2014. Traders also got solace with data from Exim Bank showing that India's merchandise exports are expected to grow by 11.4 per cent to hit $114.4 billion during the July-September quarter of the current financial year. However, upside remain capped with report that India's August inflation data is likely to trend higher to 6.9% in August from 6.71% in July, which could put pressure on RBI to hike interest rates more aggressively in coming months. On the global front, euro jumped to a more than three-week peak versus the dollar on Monday, as European Central Bank officials argued for further aggressive monetary tightening.
Finally, the rupee ended at 79.53 (Provisional), stronger by 4 paisa from its previous close of 79.57 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 79.72 and 79.47 respectively.
