Rupee appreciates for sixth straight day against dollar on Friday

Continuing its upward trajectory for the sixth straight day, Indian rupee ended stronger against dollar on Friday due to selling of the greenback by banks and exporters. Rupee headed for its biggest weekly gain since May 2014 as foreign funds pumped money into local stocks amid a revival in global sentiment for equities. Some support came with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that India is set to take a quantum leap in infrastructure and the government is committed to strengthening it. However, dollar strength against other currencies limited the gains. Money market will remain closed on Monday on account of Mahashivratri. On the global front, yen saw some initial strength on Friday after BOJ Gov Kuroda rules out the chance of another rate cut in March.

Finally, the rupee ended at 67.09, 24 paise stronger from its previous close of 67.33 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 67.34 and 67.08 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.27 and for Euro stood at 73.66 on March 04, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 59.10, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 95.2158. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.