After a brief recovery, the rupee once again turned shaky and ended 17 paise lower at 66.88 due to frantic demand for dollar from importers and corporates.

Extremely bullish dollar sentiment overseas backed by firm Fed rate hike hopes alongside an adverse spillover effect of $22.4-billion possible outflow in the wake of the ongoing FCNR-B redemption largely added pressure on the local currency.

At the forex market, the domestic unit commenced remarkably lower at 66.81 compared to the weekend closing level of 66.71 on bouts of dollar demand.