Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 14 paise to 66.17 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange in early trade today on buying of the US currency by importers.
The dollar was firm against major global currencies as signs of a pickup in US inflation reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates, which dampened rupee sentiment, dealers said. Yesterday, the rupee had declined marginally by 3 paise to 66.03 per dollar on fresh demand for the US currency from bankers and importers. The domestic currency also fell due to a lower opening in the equity markets, they added. The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading lower by 68.80 points or 0.26 per cent to 25,795.67 in opening trade.
