Rupee ends substantially stronger for second consecutive session

Indian rupee appreciated for the second consecutive session against dollar on Thursday due to increased selling of American currency by exporters and banks. Sentiment remained optimistic with the US Federal Reserve who has scaled back its projection for interest-rate hikes, keeping its policy rate unchanged at the end of its two-day rate-setting meeting and has once again boosted the call of rate cut from the Reserve Bank of India. The domestic currency looked strong from the very beginning and was also supported by the gains in equity markets, which despite some choppiness managed to end flat. On the global front, dollar sank against other major currencies on Thursday, after a Federal Reserve meeting left markets convinced that U.S. interest rates would not rise anytime soon.

Finally, the rupee ended at 66.68, 57 paise stronger from its previous close of 67.25 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.95 and 66.64 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.88 and for Euro stood at 75.07 on March 17, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 59.59, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 95.1644. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.