Indian rupee strengthened and ended higher on Wednesday as a global risk rally supercharged all Asian currencies against dollar. However, continued dollar demand from oil firms restricted domestic currency’s gains. Investors were creating strong positions amid hopes that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may cut interest rates at its policy review on March 19, after considering industrial output and inflation data next week. Positive local equity markets also supported local unit to an extent. Meanwhile, euro remained positive against dollar, as investors eyed policy meetings by the Bank of Japan, European Central Bank and Bank of England on March 7.
Finally the rupee ended at 54.72, stronger by 22 paise from its previous close of 54.94 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 54.88 and 54.62 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at Rs 54.71 and for Euro it stood at Rs 71.43 on March 6, 2013. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 58.69, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 82.7873. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
