Rupee down 30 paise against dollar in late morning trade

Forex dealers said fresh dollar demand from banks and importers mainly affected the rupee's value

The rupee today dropped by 30 paise to 54.72 against the US dollar in late morning trade, due to on fresh demand for the American currency from banks and importers despite a weak global trend.

The local unit resumed lower at 54.45 a dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market as against the last weekend's level of 54.42, and dropped further to 54.72 per dollar at 1100 hours.

Forex dealers said fresh dollar demand from banks and importers in view of capital outflows from foreign funds despite weakness of dollar in the overseas market mainly affected the rupee's value.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex was trading firm at 16,197.76 1100 hours, a gain of 45.01 points.

In New York, the dollar weakened on Friday after its longest rally since at least 1985, with the Greenback's benchmark index logging its first decline in 15 sessions.