Rupee stutters, falls 4 paise against dollar

The rupee weakened by 4 paise to 67.40 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today, falling for the seventh straight session, on sustained demand for the American currency from importers and banks amid foreign fund outflows.

The dollar was firm against some global currencies after minutes of US Fed's April policy meeting hinted at the possibility of a June rate hike, which made the rupee slide further, dealers said.

However, recovery in equities in the early session capped the rupee's fall.

Yesterday, the local currency had plummeted by 39 paise to close at fresh 2-month low of 67.36 on persistent demand for the American currency from banks and importers amid higher greenback overseas, coupled with a sharp fall in shares.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose 99.23 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 25,498.95 in early trade.