Rupee snaps two-days gaining streak on Tuesday

Snapping its two-days gaining streak Indian rupee depreciated against dollar on Tuesday due to demand for dollar from banks and importers. Besides, weak trade in the equity market also hit the sentiment. Further, dollar's gains against other currencies overseas and losses in Asian currencies markets also pressurized the domestic unit. Sentiments remain subdued with exports falling for the 14th consecutive month with shipments in January, 2016 contracting 13.6 per cent year-on-year to $21 billion due to weak overseas demand as well as fall in major export items. On the global front, yen grip weakened against other major currencies as the investors took the decision of selling the haven Japanese currency due to risk sentiment.

Finally, the rupee ended at 68.38, 32 paise weaker from its previous close of 68.06 on Monday. The currency touched a high and low of 68.43 and 68.12 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 68.33 and for Euro stood at 76.24 on February 16, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 59.68, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 98.4312. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.