Rupee pares early gains, down 5 paise vs USD

Mumbai: The rupee pared its early gains to trade down by 5 paise at 64.94 against the dollar on emergence of demand for the US currency from importers and banks despite higher local equities.

The rupee resumed lower at 64.91 per dollar as against the yesterday's closing level of 64.89 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market.

Later, it recovered on dollar selling by banks to 64.80 before falling again to 64.94 at 1100 hrs.

The domestic unit hovered between 64.95 and 64.80 during morning deals.

Meanwhile, the dollar index was up by 0.06 percent at 97.40 against a basket of six global currencies in the global market.

Overseas, the dollar held firm against its major rivals in early Asian trade helped by a rise in US Treasury yields, while the yuan eased after Moody's cut its sovereign rating on China due to concerns over the country's soaring debt.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 132.27 points or 0.44 percent at 30,497.52 in late morning trade.