Rupee weakens against dollar in early deals on Friday

Indian rupee weakened against dollar in early deals on Friday due to appreciation in the American currency overseas with the Fed meeting coming within a week and US monetary policy expected to be tightened. Further, fresh demand for the US currency from importers and banks and early losses in domestic stock markets also weighed on rupee. The domestic currency was also trading cautious ahead of the October factory output data scheduled later for the day. On the global front, the dollar steadied on Friday, given some breathing space after a recent surge by the euro lost momentum in wake of dovish comments by a policymaker, and while profit-taking trimmed some of the Australian dollar's big gains made on an unusually strong domestic jobs report.

The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 66.79, weaker by 7 paise from its previous close of 66.72 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.8075 and 66.7375 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.79 and for Euro stood at 73.46 on December 10, 2015. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 54.91 the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 101.3679. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.