Rupee & Bond markets shut today

The US dollar continued to hold on at higher levels seen in a week against a basket of currencies on Thursday, as investors eyed the release of US data later in the day.

On February 19, Indian Rupee and Bond Market will be closed on account of Shivaji Jayanti. USDINR pair closed neutral on Thursday. The US dollar continued to hold on at higher levels seen in a week against a basket of currencies on Thursday, as investors eyed the release of US data later in the day. The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade‐weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 96.98. In US, minutes of the recent FOMC policy meeting revealed that several members of Federal Reserve concurred that the recent turmoil in financial markets calls for a pause in the process of policy normalization until calmness in restored in the markets.

On Thursday, the rupee ended at 68.46/$, marginally up 1 paise from its previous close of 68.47/$ on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 68.49 and for Euro stood at 76.32 on February 18, 2016. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 60.15, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 97.8642.