Rupee tumbles by 63 paise vs US dollar in late morning trade

MUMBAI: The rupee tumbled by 63 paise to 61.40 against the dollar in the late morning trade on fresh buying of US currency by banks and importers in view of fall in the equity market.

The rupee resumed lower at 61.15 per dollar as against the last closing level of 60.77 per dollar yesterday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange ( Forex) Market and dropped further to 61.44 per dollar before quoting at 61.40 per dollar at 1045 hrs.

It moved in a range of 61.11 to 61.44 per dollar during the morning deals.

Banks and importers preferred to increase their dollar position in view of fall in the equity market, a forex dealer said.

The benchmark Sensex dropped by 127 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 18,605.60 at 1055 hrs.

In the global market, the euro and the British pound fell against the US dollar in the early trade, with the retreat coming ahead of key policy and data updates from Europe.