Rupee falls 10 paise on dollar demand

In restricted activity, the rupee weakened by 10 paise to end at 66.14 against the American currency due to month-end dollar demand from importers and banks.

Sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and a sudden spike in crude oil prices globally too weighed on the home currency, a forex dealer said.

However, sluggish dollar overseas, capped losses in the local unit.

The domestic unit resumed almost steady at 66.03 per dollar compared to Thursday's closing level of 66.04 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market tracking firm local equity markets amid dollar weakness.

But, the domestic unit reversed its trend late afternoon trade pressured by renewed dollar demand and dropped to an intra-day low of 66.21 before rebounding to close at 66.14, showing a loss of 10 paise, or 0.15 per cent.

The rupee had recovered 10 paise to close at 66.04 on Thursday.

The dollar retreated against other major currencies following fresh unwinding by investors after sharp overnight rally sparked by robust second quarter GDP data and also renewed expectations of imminent Fed interest rates hike.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.11 per cent at 95.64.

Meanwhile, oil eased marginally after overnight sharp rally of over 10 per cent - the strongest daily gains in past six years.