Indian rupee, snapping three consecutive sessions’ depreciating streak, was trading tad stronger on Wednesday on account of American currency’s weakness in the global markets after soft US jobs data cemented hopes that the Federal Reserve would not start tapering monetary stimulus until 2014. However, colossal losses of local equity markets took away some of the gains in the Indian rupee, which in the early morning deals appeared to be at the verge of slipping below the ‘61/$’ mark. Nevertheless, month-end dollar demand from oil importers and banks also weighed on the sentiment of Indian currency. In the global markets, data showed U.S. employers added far fewer workers than expected in September, suggesting the U.S. economy may have lost some momentum even before a damaging 16-day partial shutdown of the federal government.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 61.56, stronger by 7 paise from its previous close of 61.63 on Tuesday. The currency has touched a high and low of 61.57 and 61.05 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 61.78 and for Euro it stood at 84.48 on October 22, 2013. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 62.86, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 99.6573. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
October 22, 2013 | 61.78 | 99.6573 |
October 21, 2013 | 61.48 | 99.4085 |
(RBI Reference Rate)
