The rupee trimmed initial losses, but was still down 3 paise to 65.79 per dollar in late morning trade on persistent demand for the US currency from importers amid higher greenback overseas.
Earlier, the Indian rupee opened marginally lower at 65.80 as against yesterday's level of 65.75 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market.
It hovered in the range of 65.87 to 65.72 per dollar during the morning deals, before quoting at 65.79 at 1030 hrs.
The dollar index is currently trading up by 0.02 per cent at 98.00 against a basket of six currencies.
"Expect rupee to depreciate today as Asian markets had opened on a weak note which will force local equities to trade low, a forex dealer said.
"Also gain in dollar may keep rupee under pressure. Rupee range for the day is seen between 65.40-66.20 per dollar." he added.
US dollar edged higher against its main rivals as investors were hopeful yesterday, that a report on job growth in October, expected early Friday, would support a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike in December-a boon for the buck.
Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex was trading lower by 63 points, or 0.25 pct, at 26,237.17 at 1035 hrs.
