Rupee continues southbound journey ahead of ECB meeting

Hurt by weak opening of local equity markets, Indian rupee continued its southbound journey against dollar on the back of increased demand for the American currency from banks and importers. However, feeble response from investors at an auction for debt limits for foreign institutional investors (FII) on Wednesday also dampened the local currency’s sentiments. Meanwhile, euro remained near a one-week low ahead of the European Central Bank's policy decision due later in the day.

The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 55.01, weaker by 13 paise from its previous close of on 54.49 Wednesday. It has touched a high and low of 55.05 and 54.80 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at Rs 54.55 and for Euro it stood at Rs 68.70 on July 4, 2012. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 68.40, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 85.4783. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.

(RBI-reference rate)