Rupee drops 7 paise, trades at 58.54 Vs dollar

Mumbai, May 23: The rupee dropped by seven paise to 58.54 against the US dollar in morning trade today on fresh demand for the American currency from banks and importers on the back of higher greenback overseas.

The rupee resumed slightly higher at 58.45 per dollar as against the last closing level of 58.47 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market on mild initial selling of dollars.

But, it declined immediately to 58.55 per dollar on fresh demand for the US currency from some banks and importers in view of firm dollar in the overseas market before quoting at 58.54 at 1000 hours.

It hovered in a range of 58.37-58.55 per dollar during the morning trade. In New York market, the dollar rose yesterday with a broad gauge of the currency's strength hitting its highest level in nearly seven weeks, as investors sifted through US economic data that included a strong reading on manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE-30 share index Sensex rose by 267.56 points, or 1.10 per cent, to 24,641.96 at 1000 hours.

PTI