Rupee strengthens marginally against dollar in early deals on Friday

Indian rupee strengthened marginally against dollar in early deals on Friday, tracking gains in the local equity and Asian currencies markets. However, dollar’s strength against some global currencies after minutes of US Fed's April policy meeting hinted at the possibility of a June rate hike, capped the rupee's gains. On the global front, sterling rose broadly on Friday, after a robust UK retail sales report diminished chances of an interest rate cut that some investors were factoring in.

The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 67.34, stronger by 2 paise from its previous close of 67.36 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 67.4050 and 67.3150 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.23 and for Euro stood at 75.45 on May 19, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.01, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 98.0493. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.

(RBI-Reference Rate)