Rupee weakens on dollar demand from importers

Indian rupee weakened against dollar in early deals on Friday on bouts of dollar demand from importers. The domestic unit is also impacted by recent flow of weak macroeconomic numbers which convey that industrial activity has slowed down and retail inflation is moving higher. On the global front, the dollar edged down in Asian trade on Friday, erasing its early gains as slumping crude oil futures and Chinese shares eroded investors' appetite for risk, though it remained well above the week's lows and on track to end a volatile week modestly higher.

The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 67.44, weaker by 15 paise from its previous close of 67.29 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 67.45 and 67.25 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.09 and for Euro stood at 72.97 on January 14, 2016. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 57.01 the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 96.6369. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.