Rupee down for 3rd day; sheds 8 paise against dollar

Extending its slide for the third straight day, the rupee shed another 8 paise to 66.79 against the dollar in early trade as the American currency appreciated against its basket of emerging market currencies overseas. 

Besides, continued demand for the dollar from importers and banks and a lower opening in the domestic equity market weighed, forex dealers said.

The rupee had lost 18 paise to close at 66.71 against the dollar in Tuesday's trade on persistent demand for the American currency on the back of a higher greenback overseas despite sustained foreign capital inflows in domestic equities.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex dropped 101.74 points, or 0.40%, to 25,228.75.