Rupee falls by 3 paise; trading around 66.43/$

The currency touched a high and low of 66.64 and 66.68 against the dollar respectively.

Indian rupee opened at 66.43/$ lower by 3 paise in early trade on Wednesday. Month end dollar demand for US dollar from importers also weighed on the Indian Rupee. However, Indian rupee has derived some support from falling oil prices and ensuing mitigation of India’s current account deficit. Meanwhile, RBI’s involvement in the Forex markets has provided overall stability.

On US macroeconomic front, consumer confidence reading for December surged to 96.5 from 92.6 during the prior month. US single family home prices witnessed a rise in October at a slightly faster pace than in September. Today, we will get November pending home sales. On Thursday, we get weekly initial claims data followed by December Chicago PMI.

On Tuesday, Indian rupee ended at 66.39/$, lower by 20 paise. The currency touched a high and low of 66.64 and 66.68 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.37 and for Euro stood at 72.84 on December 29, 2015. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 55.16, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 98.9112.