Rupee weakens further, down 9 paise to 66.67

Extending losses for the second straight session, the rupee on Tuesday dropped by another 9 paise to close at 66.67 on sustained demand for the US currency from banks and importers in view of firm dollar overseas.

The rupee resumed lower at 66.65 per dollar as against Monday's closing level of 66.58 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market and dropped further to 66.74 before closing at 66.67, showing a loss of 9 paise or 0.14 per cent.

The rupee has lost 13 paise or 0.20 per cent in two days.

It hovered in a range of 66.60 and 66.74 per dollar during the day.

The dollar index was up by 0.13 per cent in the late afternoon trade.

The dollar rose against the yen in Asia trade today, after short-covering brought the US currency to its highest level in nearly two weeks.

Meanwhile, the RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 66.7224 and euro at 75.9568.

In cross-currency trades, the rupee dropped against the pound sterling to finish at 96.36 from 96.09 on Monday.

It also declined to 75.84 against the euro from 75.81.

However, the domestic currency firmed up further against the yen to 61.13 per 100 yens from 61.44.