 "A money lender counts rupee currency notes at his shop in Ahmedabad")
The rupee continued its slide against the US dollar in early trade today, falling to a more than two-year low of 66.89.
It recovered somewhat to 66.80 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased month-end demand for the American currency from importers.
Besides, the dollar's strength against other currencies overseas kept pressure on the rupee, forex dealers said. They said, however, a higher opening in domestic equity market capped the losses, they said.
The Reserve Bank of India likely sold dollars through state-owned banks to stem the rupee's fall around 66.88 per dollar, three state-owned bank traders told Reuters.
The rupee had tumbled 25 paise to close at over two month low of 66.57 against the US dollar in yesterday's trade on month-end demand for the American currency from importers and banks on the back of higher greenback in overseas markets.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 64.11 points, or 0.24%, to trade above 26,000-mark at 26,022.74 in early trade today. Asian shares fell and the dollar held near an 8-1/2-month peak on Friday, while the euro hovered around seven-month lows on expectations of additional stimulus from the European Central Bank next week.
