Rupee recovers by 4 paise vs USD in late morning trade

The rupee recovered by 4 paise after initial losses against the American currency and quoted at 68.54 per dollar in late morning trade following fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters.

The domestic unit resumed lower by 7 paise at 68.65 owing to month-end dollar demand from importers, as against Tuesday's closing level of 68.58 per dollar at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

It hovered in a range of 68.66 and 68.53 during morning deals before quoting at 68.54 at 1015 hours.

The dollar index was up 0.02 per cent at 97.46 against a basket of six currencies in the early trade.

At Asian trade, yen gained against key peers like the dollar and euro today as sagging stocks and crude oil drove bids for the safe-haven currency.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading lower 155.49 points or 0.66 per cent at 23,254.69 at 1030 hrs.