Rupee trims early gains, still up 6 paise

The currency hovered in the range of 65.52 to 65.62 per dollar during the morning deals

The rupee pared its initial gains, but was still higher by 6 paise to 65.58 against the US currency in late morning trade on sustained bouts of dollar selling by banks and exporters.

The Indian rupee opened higher at 65.56 as against yesterday's level of 65.64 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

It hovered in the range of 65.52 to 65.62 per dollar during the morning deals, before quoting at 65.58 at 1030 hours.

The dollar index is currently trading up by 0.13% at 97.31 against a basket of six currencies.

"The weakness in the rupee yesterday was due to dollar strengthening against major currencies and dollar demand by custodial banks, expect the same trend to continue today," says a forex dealer.

Oil prices were flat in Asia early trade as investors weighed US petroleum industry data showing a build-up in crude stockpiles and news that shipments from a Libyan port were halted due to tensions.

The US dollar, yesterday moved higher against most of its main rivals fueled by optimism ahead of Friday's non-farm payrolls report along with rising interest-rate hike expectations.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex were trading higher by 119 points, or 0.45%, at 26,709.57 at 1030 hrs.