Rupee falls on weak opening of domestic equity market ahead of GST debate

Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar in morning trade on Wednesday due to a weak opening of the domestic equity market, as traders stayed cautious ahead of GST debate in the Rajya Sabha later in the day today. However, increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks and sustained foreign fund inflows, limited some losses. On the global front, the dollar struggled near 6-week lows against a basket of currencies on Wednesday due to expectations that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later rather than sooner.

The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 66.87, weaker by 14 paise from its previous close of 66.73 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.88 and 66.7125 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.76 and for Euro stood at 74.59 on August 2, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 65.32, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 88.03.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.