The rupee surrendered its initial gains and was trading lower by 6 paise to 66.87 per dollar in the evening session on fresh bouts of demand for the American currency from importers and banks amid volatile domestic equities.
The rupee resumed lower at 66.83 per dollar against yesterday’s closing level of 66.81 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.
Later, it recovered 11 paise to quote at 66.70 on good bouts of dollar selling by banks. However, it slid again to 66.97 before quoting at 66.87 per dollar at 4.25 pm local time.
The domestic unit moved in a range of 66.97 and 66.70 per dollar during evening deals.
In overseas, the US dollar enjoyed some respite from recent volatility as it stuck to overnight levels in early Asian trade, holding above a more than four-month low against the yen and not far from a 5-1/2-year high against sterling.
The benchmark BSE Sensex ended lower by 143.01 points or 0.58 per cent at 24,682.03.