Rupee treads water on Monday; dollar demand from importers weighs

Indian rupee, extending its consolidating trend witnessed in past two trading session, was treading water on Monday on incremental dollar demand from importers, while dollar’s strength against other major currencies also weighed on the sentiment. However, greenback sale from custodian banks was restricting any kind of losses of local unit. On the global front, U.S. dollar hovered near six-month highs against a basket of major currencies on Monday, holding onto solid gains made last week as investors turned bearish on the euro. However, caution, ahead of key U.S. economic data later this week and a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting ending on Wednesday, limited its upside.

The partially convertible currency was trading little changed at 60.10 from its previous close of 60.11 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 60.12 and 60.08 respectively.  The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 60.14 and for Euro stood at 80.01 on July 25, 2014. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 59.11, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 102.2161. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.