Rupee breaches 68-mark again, down 10 paise against dollar

After a brief recovery, the rupee once again breached the 68-mark in late morning deals, depreciating by 10 paise to 68.05 on heavy bouts of demand for the American currency from banks and importers amid higher dollar overseas.

The domestic unit resumed higher at 67.88 per dollar as against yesterday's closing level of 67.95 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market. Later, it slid to 68.06 before quoting at 68.05 at 1040 hrs.

The domestic unit hovered in a range of 68.06 and 67.81 during morning deals. The dollar index was down 0.04 per cent at 99.11 against a basket of six currencies in early trade. Overseas, the US dollar was higher against the major rivals in early Asian trade, breaking off from one-year low against the yen yesterday as crude oil prices bounced, while the euro awaited a policy decision from the European Central Bank for near-term cues.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading higher by 11.64 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 24,080.15 in late morning trade.