Rupee trims initial gains, still up 8 paise against dollar

The rupee trimmed its earlier gains but was still quoting higher by 8 paise against the American currency on sustained bouts of dollar selling from banks and exporters amid higher domestic equities.

The rupee resumed higher at Rs 66.99 against Friday's closing level of 67.05 at the Interbank Foreign exchange (forex) market.

It strengthened further at 66.8750 on bouts of dollar selling from banks before quoting at 66.97 at 1030 hrs.

The domestic unit hovered in a range of 66.9950 to 66.8750 during the morning deals. Sustained capital inflows are supporting the sentiment in the rupee, a forex dealer said.

The dollar index was up 0.02% at 96.17 against a basket of six currencies in early trade.

Overseas, the US dollar steadied against its major rivals in early Asian trade following last week's large swings, as the market braced for Japanese and US central bank policy meetings that could provide investors with fresh incentive.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading up by 140.29 points or 0.57% higher at 24,858.28.