Mumbai: In line with the equity market, the rupee on Friday extended losses against the American currency, slipping by another 5 paise to close at 66.76 on persistent dollar demand from banks and importers.
The rupee opened lower at 66.80 a dollar against the overnight closing of 66.71 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and hovered in a range of 66.73 and 66.88 before ending at 66.76, still showing a loss of 5 paise or 0.07 per cent.
It has lost 11 paise or 0.17 per cent in last two days.
Meanwhile, the dollar index was up by 0.16 per cent against the basket of six global currencies in the late afternoon trade.
Meanwhile, the RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 66.7948 and euro at 75.4714
In cross-currency trades, the rupee firmed up against the pound sterling to end at 96.24 from 96.51 on Thursday and also moved up against the euro to 75.46 per euro from 75.65.
The domestic currency also looked up against the yen to 62.47 per 100 yens from 62.60 on Thursday.
Overseas, the US dollar was mostly down against its major rivals in early Asian trade, but was on track for a modest weekly gain, having bounced off this week's one-month lows as the euro took a heavy spill while sterling stayed under a cloud on jitters over the upcoming Brexit vote.
However, the dollar was trading almost flat against the yen in a range-bound late Asian trade today, with investors sitting on the sidelines ahead of the monetary policy meetings in the US and Japan next week.
Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity Financial Services said, "The rupee opened at 66.8050/USD on a negative note against the previous close of 66.71/USD. Taking cues from positive opening of domestic equity market, the rupee appreciated from opening levels but failed to trade higher as Nifty lost its early gain on back of profit booking."
"Thus Nifty closed with a loss of 34 points at 8,170. Following to the equity market, the rupee too found resistance at higher levels. Thus to end the day, the rupee closed at 66.76/USD thus by depreciating 5 paise."
Trading range for the spot USD/INR pair will be 66.50 to 67/USD.
In forward market, premium for dollar eased further on sustained receivings from exporters.
The benchmark 6-month premium for November moved down to 195.25-196.25 paise from 196-198 paise yesterday and far forward May 2017 contract also moved down to 385-385.75 paise from 386-388 paise.
Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex dropped further by 127.71 points or 0.48 per cent to 26,635.75.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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