Rupee gives up early gains, down 9 paise

The rupee surrendered its initial gains and was trading down by 9 paise to 67.38 against the US dollar in late morning deals on bouts of dollar demand from importers.

The domestic unit resumed higher at 67.35 per dollar as against yesterday's closing level of 67.29 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market. It hovered in a range of 67.39 and 67.24 during morning deals before quoting at 67.38 per dollar at 1030 hrs.

The dollar index was down by 0.10 per cent at 98.97 against a basket of six currencies in early trade. In New York, US dollar edged higher against its main rivals yesterday as oil prices stabilised, reviving investors' appetite for risky assets like stocks and commodity-linked currencies and dampening demand for haven assets like the yen.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading lower by 17 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 24,756.31 at 1030 hrs.