Rupee gains 13p to 66.77 against dollar

The rupee gained 13 paise to trade at 66.77 against the US currency in afternoon session on sustained bouts of dollar selling by banks and exporters amid higher local equities.

The rupee opened higher at 66.88, recovering from yesterday's 14-month lows 66.90 per dollar at the inter-bank foreign exchange here.

The domestic unit moved in a range of 66.76 to 66.91 before trading at 66.77 at 1240 hrs.

"Higher local equities, selling dollar by banks supported the rupee gains," a dealer said.

Meanwhile, the US dollar traded near a 3-1/2-month high against a basket of currencies in early Asian deals, bolstered by higher US Treasury yields, led by the 10-year benchmark breaching the 3 per cent threshold this week for the first time in four years.

The 30-share BSE Sensex trading higher by 20.54 points or 0.06 per cent at 34,521.81 at 1240 hrs.