PR: US dollar slumps, end lower against the Indian rupee
The US dollar slumped and ended marginally lower against the rupee at 66.39/40 per dollar and the pound sterling also finished lower at Rs 98.38/40 per pound at the close of the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market on December 29, 2015. The Inter-bank Forex and RBI rates were such as (In Rs Per Unit) Unit Interbank RBI Reference US Dollar 66.39/40 US Dollar Rs. 66.4243 Pound Sterling 98.38/40 Euro Rs. 72.6018 Euro 72.52/54 Japanese Yen(100) 55 remained constant to this.
Gold prices turned lower after a brief rebound at the domestic bullion market today due to reduced off take by stockists as well as lack of local buying support. Silver continued its downfall for the third-straight session owing to consistent offloading by speculative traders coupled with sluggish industrial demand.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) declined by Rs 55 per 10 grams to finish at Rs 25,155, from its overnight closing level of Rs 25,210. Pure gold (99.9 purity) also slipped by a similar margin to end at Rs 25,305 per 10 grams compared to Rs 25,360 previously.
Silver (.999 fineness) slumped by Rs 255 to finish at Rs 33,660 per kg from Tuesday’s close of Rs 33,915. Globally, the yellow metal traded marginally lower in quiet year-end trading, as investors awaited key US macro data. Spot gold was lower at USD 1,068 an ounce in early European trade, while silver remained under USD 14-mark and traded little changed at USD 13.84 an ounce.
The early momentum of the market fizzled out today as the benchmark Sensex fell over 119 points to end below the key 26,000-mark, hurt by profit-booking amid mixed overseas leads.
The NSE Nifty too struggled and settled below the 7,900-level. Earlier on, covering-up of short positions propped up the market. But then, the Sensex succumbed to profit-booking and ended below the 26,000-level at 25,960.03, down 119.45 points, or 0.46 per cent. It had gained 240.77 points in the previous two sessions.
The Nifty closed down by 32.70 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 7,896.25. Caution prevailed ahead of the expiry of December monthly derivatives contracts on Thursday, which weighed on mood. Sentiment took a hit after IMF chief Christine Lagarde wrote in a guest article in a German newspaper that global growth will be “disappointing and patchy” in 2016.
