Rupee trims initial loss, still down 18 paise to 61.26

The rupee trimmed its initial losses, but was still down by 18 paise to 61.26 against the US dollar in late morning deals on Wednesday on sustained bouts of demand for the greenback from importers. Earlier, the rupee resumed sharply lower at 61.29 as against the last closing level of 61.08 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market. 

Later, the domestic unit pared slightly to quote 61.26 per dollar at 10:30 am. It moved in a range of 61.29 and 61.21 per dollar during the morning trade.

Crude oil prices extended losses in Asia after the International Energy Agency slashed it demand outlook for 2014 and 2015, while reporting a glut in global supplies despite conflicts in Iraq and Ukraine.

In New York Market, the US dollar rose against its major rivals after German economic-expectations index reading lowest since December 2012. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading higher by 74.03 points, or 0.29%, to 25,954.80 at 10:30 am.