Rupee falls by 16 paise to 67.38 vs USD in late morning trade

The rupee slipped further by 16 paise to 67.38 against the US currency in late morning deals following continued bouts of dollar demand from banks and importers amidst volatile domestic equities.
Earlier, the rupee opened lower by 7 paise at 67.29 per dollar against yesterday's level of 67.22 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market.
The domestic unit hovered between 67.3875 and 67.2850 per dollar during morning deals before quoting at 67.38 per dollar at 1030 hrs.
Overseas, the dollar stood near a 10-week low against the yen early today as investors sought refuge in the safe- haven Japanese currency, while the euro languished on French political woes.

Meanwhile, equities succumbed to modest profit-taking
after Monday's spectacular rally which propelled the key benchmark indices to hit two-year highs as investors assessed the likely impact of a Fed rate hike next week amid renewed geopolitical tensions.

The benchmark Sensex declined by 48.63 points to end at 28,999.56, while broader Nifty shed 16.55 points to settle at 8,946.90.
In the forward market, premium for dollar continued to drift on persistent receivings from exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium for August moved down to 155-157 paise from 157-159 paise and the far-forward February 2018 contract also edged lower to 312-314 paise from 314-316 paie on Monday.

On global commodity front, crude prices remained under selling pressure in Asian trade on Tuesday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast US shale output to grow at about 1.4 million barrels per day by 2022 and also concerns over lower growth targets in China.