Rupee down 38 paise against dollar in late morning trade

Moving in line with equity market, the rupee dropped by 38 paise to 61.63 against the American currency in late morning trade on good dollar demand from banks and importers.
The rupee resumed lower at 61.60 per dollar as against the last closing level of 61.25 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and hovered in a range of 61.57-61.70 before quoting at 61.63 per dollar at 1040 hrs.
Fresh dollar demand from banks and importers mainly affected the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.
In New York market, the US dollar was little changed yesterday as market participants looked ahead to next week's Federal Reserve policy decision.

In Singapore, oil prices eased in Asian trade today on a mixed US inventory report indicating tepid demand, while expectations of a return of Libyan supplies also weighed, analysts said.
Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex dropped by 138.49 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 21,032.92 at 1045 hrs.