Rupee weakens against US dollar in first half on Friday

Indian rupee weakened and pared initial gains against the US dollar in first half on Friday, followed by weak domestic equity market. Rupee had opened higher on sustained selling of the American currency by exporters. Persistent foreign capital inflows and dollar's weakness against other currencies overseas also helped domestic unit in initial trade. On the global front, the safe-haven yen jumped against the dollar on Friday after the Bank of Japan's modest monetary policy easing disappointed investors who had been hoping for more radical stimulus measures.

The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 67.04, little changed from its previous close of 67.03 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 67.09 and 66.9750 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.06 and for Euro stood at 74.36 on July 28, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 64.07, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 88.43.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.