Rupee drops 7 paise against US dollar

The rupee depreciated 7 paise to 66.97 against the US dollar in early trade today on fresh demand for the American currency from importers and banks.

Dealers attributed the rupee’s fall to fresh demand for the US currency from importers, but a higher opening in the domestic equity markets and dollar’s weakness against some currencies overseas capped the losses.

Yesterday, the rupee had extended gains for the second straight day by moving up another 3 paise to close at 66.90 per dollar on sustained selling of the US currency by banks and exporters.