Rupee up 5 paise against dollar in late morning deals

Surrendering most of its early gains, the rupee was quoting higher by 5 paise to 54.13 in late morning deals on Wednesday on the back of dollar selling by banks and exporters amid persistent capital inflows from foreign funds.

Weakness of dollar in the overseas market helped the local currency appreciate, forex dealers said.

The rupee resumed higher at 54.15 per dollar as against yesterday's closing level of 54.18 at the interbank foreign exchange market and hovered in a range of 54.03-54.20 before quoting at 54.13 per dollar at 10:50 a.m.

In the New York market, the dollar index ended a see-saw session with a slight loss yesterday, while the British pound tumbled after dismal UK industrial production figures underlined fears of a triple-dip recession.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex was trading down by 82 points, or 0.42 per cent, at 19,482.84 at 10:50 a.m.