Rupee down 20 paise in morning trade

Mumbai, May 21: Extending losses for the second consecutive session, the rupee today fell by 20 paise to 58.83 paise against the US currency in morning trade on persistent dollar demand from banks and importers due to strong overseas cues.

The rupee resumed lower at 58.72 per dollar as against the last closing level of 58.63 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and dropped further to 58.87 per dollar before quoting at 58.83 per dollar at 1000hrs.

It hovered in a range of 58.72-58.87 per dollar during the morning deals. Persistent dollar demand from banks and importers in view of firm dollar in the overseas market mainly affected the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.

In the New York market, the US dollar gained against the Australian currency yesterday while moving lower against the British pound, though overall foreign-exchange movements remained limited. Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex dropped by 45.04 points of 0.18 per cent to 24,331.84 at 1000hrs.

PTI