Rupee Depreciates A Tad Against Dollar

The rupee depreciated against the US currency and was quoted about three paise lower in late morning trade as dollar turned strong overseas and FIIs slowed down activity on equity markets. In quiet trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the local currency resumed steady at 39.42/44 a dollar from previous close of 39.42/43 and later slipped to 39.45/46 in late morning deals.

A smart recovery in dollar against major currencies in the global markets on December 4 and capital outflows weighed on the rupee sentiment, forex dealers said. Exporters'' dollar selling also subsided amid anticipation of the central bank intervention as the rupee surged by 33 paise in the last four days, they added. Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex spurted by 188.63 points to touch 19718.13 in morning trade.