The rupee erased its initial gains and was trading weak at 67.07 in the evening session on sudden bouts of dollar demand from imports and banks amid lower domestic equities. Strengthening of dollar against other currencies overseas also hit the rupee sentiment.
The domestic unit opened smartly at 66.88 against yesterday’s closing level of 66.91 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.
It hovered in a range of 67.13 and 66.85 before quoting at 67.07, down 16 paise at 4.40 pm local time.
The dollar index was trading lower by 0.03 per cent at 96.07 against a basket of six currencies in the early trade.
Overseas, the US dollar was mostly mixed against its major rivals in early Asian trade. It extended its gains and scaled a three-week high against the yen after China’s second-quarter gross domestic product and June activity data pointed to stabilisation in China’s economy and bolstered risk sentiment.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE index closed down 105.61 points or 0.38 per cent at 27,836.50, after earlier touching its highest since August 17.