Rupee strengthens on continued selling of American currency by banks and exporters

Indian rupee strengthened against US dollar on Wednesday on continued selling of the American currency by banks and exporters. Besides, the dollar’s weakness against other currencies overseas too supported rupee’s uptrend. However, a weak equity market capped some gains of rupee. On the global front, the dollar held steady in Asia trading on Wednesday, just below a near nine-month peak struck overnight, underpinned by expectations US rates will rise by the year-end, while the Australian dollar gained as inflation data doused chances of a rate cut there.

The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 66.79, stronger by 3 paise from its previous close of 66.82 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.8225 and 66.7825 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.87 and for Euro stood at 72.78 on October 25, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 64.06, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 81.77. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.