Mumbai: Paring its early gains, the rupee slipped by 2 paise to trade at 67.84 against the US currency in late morning deals following bouts of fresh month-end dollar demand from banks and importers.
The rupee opened flat at 67.82 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market. The domestic unit hovered between 67.85 and 67.79 per dollar during morning deals before trading at 66.84 per dollar at 1030 hrs.
Forex dealers said that the rupee is expected to trade sideways with negative bias in absence of any major cues.
Weak stock markets and capital outflows also influenced the rupee sentiment, they added.
Meanwhile, the stock markets were trading in the red with the benchmark BSE Sensex shedding over 200 points to 25,833.01 points at 1100 hrs.
The NSE Nifty too declined by 67 points to 7,918.75 due to fall in metal, pharma and banking stocks. Of the 50 Nifty stock, 45 were in the red led by Hindalco which declined by over 4 per cent in early trade.
Overseas, the dollar dipped against the yen early Monday, edging lower after US Treasury yields fell on mixed economic data. Trading was subdued as many key markets remained closed on Monday for the Christmas holidays.
Crude prices hold steady as the market waits to see how OPEC would manage its planned output cuts with Libya expecting to boost production.
PTI
