Rupee strengthens against US dollar in early trade on Wednesday

Indian rupee strengthened against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, ahead of the outcome of US Federal Reserve two-day policy review. However, a dip in country's exports in February and lower opening of domestic equity markets, capped some gains on rupee. Exports declined for the 15th month in a row, down 5.66 percent in February at $20.73 billion, due to contraction in shipments of petroleum and engineering goods. On the global front, the dollar was in a holding pattern on Wednesday as markets waited for fresh guidance from the Federal Reserve, while a fall in dairy prices knocked the New Zealand currency broadly lower.

The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 67.37, stronger by 2 paise from its previous close of 67.39 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 67.4450 and 67.33 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.22 and for Euro stood at 74.64 on March 15, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 59.31, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 95.9223. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.