Rupee drops by 15 paise against dollar in late morning trade

The Indian rupee dropped by 15 paise to Rs 54.51 against the US dollar in the late morning trade on persistent dollar demand from banks and importers on the back of higher dollar overseas.
The rupee resumed lower at Rs 54.65 per dollar against the last closing level of Rs 54.36 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) and dropped further to Rs 54.67 per dollar before quoting at Rs 54.51 per dollar at 1050 hrs.
It moved in a range of Rs 54.51 per dollar and Rs 54.67 per dollar in the morning deals.
Sustained dollar demand from banks and importers in view of firm dollar in the overseas market mainly affected the rupee value against the dollar, a foerx dealer said.

In the New York market, the US dollar rose against the euro yesterday, extending its advance after the release of generally positive readings on the world's largest economy.
Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark Sensex rose by 87.69 pts or 0.46 pct to 18,949.23 at 1050 hrs.