Rupee slips from early gains, down 5 paise against USD

The rupee slipped from its initial gains, declining 5 paise at Rs 68.18 against the US dollar in late morning deals following bouts of American currency demand from importers amid drop in domestic equities as well as bullish dollar overseas.
The rupee opened higher at 68.10 per dollar as against last Friday's closing level of 68.13 at the Interank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.
Later, it hovered in the range of 68.19 to 68.09 per dollar during the morning deals, before quoting 68.18 at 1030 hrs.
The dollar Index is trading down by 0.11 percent at 101.30 against a basket of six currencies.

Overseas, the US dollar was up to a six-month high against major rivals in early Asian trade, as investors continued to back bets that the administration of President-elect Donald Trump would embark on expansionary fiscal policies and boost growth.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading lower by 265.89 points or 1.02 per cent at 25,884.35 at 1050 hrs.