Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Friday closed marginally higher against the US dollar.

The rupee closed at 67.77 per US dollar—up 0.09% from its previous close of 67.84. The home currency opened at 67.81 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 67.74 and 67.87 respectively. So far this year, it has fallen 2.4%.

Mumbai: To encourage digital transactions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday decided to slash merchant discount rate (MDR) charges on payments made through debit cards and do away with levies on small transactions through mobile phones and Internet from 1 January to 31 March.

The MDR for debit card payments, including for payments made to government, will be capped at 0.25% for transactions up to Rs1,000 and 0.5% between Rs1,000-2,000, RBI said in a notification.

Delhi: Amazon India on Friday launched its online wallet Amazon Pay Balance, in a bid to increase cashless orders.

“With no additional authentications required, customers get the benefit of fast and smooth checkout (from Amazon Pay). Amazon Pay Balance helps customers store balances for essential items and solves the pain point of tendering exact amount of cash at the time of delivery.” the company said in a statement.

Gold prices rebounded from a 10—month low by climbing Rs 180 to Rs 27,930 per 10 grams today, taking cues from a firm trend overseas amid scattered buying by local jewellers.

Silver, too, edged up by Rs 50 to Rs 39,650 per kg on uptick in demand from industrial units.

Stocks: The BSE benchmark Sensex fell to mark biggest weekly loss in a month, falling 257.62 points to finish at 26,489.56, while the broader Nifty fell below the crucial 8,150-level.

The market began the week on negative note with dismal IIP data, US president-elect Trumps blunt talk on visas and surging crudeoil affecting the stocks, however, immense caution focused on two day US Fed Reserve policy meeting.

Tamil film Visaranai, which was India's official entry to the Oscars in the Foreign Language Film category, has failed to make it to the shortlist of nine movies that will advance in the race.

The crime-thriller, produced by actor-filmmaker Dhanush and written and directed by Vetrimaaran, was selected by Film Federation of India to represent India at the 89th Academy Awards.

Mumbai: Sandwiched in a tight range, the Sensex closed down for the third day as prospects of more US interest rate hikes next year continue to keep investors on edge.

For the week, Sensex lost 257.62 points, or 0.96 %, and the NSE Nifty 122.30 points, or 1.48%. The weekly decline is the biggest since 18 November, when the Sensex registered a fall of 668.58 points and the Nifty 222.20 points.

CBI has registered an FIR against some customers of digital wallet PayTm on the company's complaint that it has allegedly been cheated to the tune of Rs 6.15 lakh by customers based in New Delhi.

It is rare for the agency to take up such cases unless they have been referred by the central government or there are directions by the Supreme Court or a high court.

The state-owned BHEL today said that it has bagged a major order from Indian Railways for supply of IGBT-based traction converters.

"Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has bagged a major order for supply of 118 sets of IGBT-based traction converters for 3 Phase 6,000 HP electric locomotives," the company said in a statement.

Telecom major Vodafone on Friday told the Delhi High Court that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's recommendation to the Centre to impose Rs 1050 crore penalty on it for not giving interconnectivity to Reliance Jio was an "arbitrary" decision.

TRAI has recommended imposition of a fine of Rs 50 crore for each of the 21 circles of Vodafone, except in Jammu and Kashmir, coming to a total of Rs 1050 crore.

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