Rupee down 4 paise against United States dollar

The currency had gained by 88 paise in the past seven days.

The rupee weakened by another 4 paise to Rs 66.44 against the dollar in early trade on Wednesday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on increased month-end demand for the United States currency from importers. At 9.09am, the rupee was trading at 66.11 a dollar, up 0.15% from its previous close of 66.21.

Globally, the USA dollar continued to climb against a basket of six currencies in afternoon trade by 0.08 per cent. Asian currencies, including the Indonesian rupiah (down 0.36 per cent), the Singapore dollar (down 0.20 per cent), the Korean won (down 0.19 per cent), the Chinese yuan (down 0.07 per cent) and the Japanese yen (down 0.03 per cent) edged lower.

Oil prices declined in Asia today ahead of the release of data on United States crude stockpiles and production.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by 100 points, or 0.39 per cent, to trade at 25,938.71 in early trade.

In forward market today, premium for dollar fell further on sustained receivings from exporters.

The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 66.1380 and for the euro at 72.5534.

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Monday strengthened for the eighth consecutive session against the United States dollar from its previous close.