Rupee advances in late morning deals, up 24 paise vs USD

Mumbai: The rupee firmed up further by 24 paise to 66.24 against the US currency in late morning deals following sustained bouts of dollar selling by exporters and banks.

The rupee opened higher at 66.38 per dollar against yesterday’s closing level of 66.48 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

It gained further to 66.23 on bouts of dollar selling by exporters before quoting at 66.24 per dollar at 1045 hrs.

It moved in a range of 66.46 and 66.23 during the morning trade.

Globally, the US dollar was lower in early Asian trade as nervous investors look to upcoming data from China and the United States to gauge whether they need to further wind back carry trades, bets in risk assets funded by these currencies.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading down by 218.74 points or 0.83 per cent at 26,064.35 in morning trade.