Rupee retains early gains at 67.19 against dollar

Mumbai: The rupee gained 12 paise to trade at Rs 67.19 against the US dollar in late morning trade following sustained bouts of dollar selling by banks and exporters on the back of firm domestic equity market.

Earlier, the rupee opened higher by 10 paise at 67.21 as against Friday's closing level of 67.31 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market.

The domestic unit hovered between 67.23 and 67.18 per dollar during morning deals before quoting at 67.19 per dollar at 1030 hrs.

Overseas, the dollar started the week on the back foot after US data showed a smaller-than-expected rise in wages in January that reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will refrain from raising interest rates next month.

While, the benchmark BSE Sensex was up by 204 points or 0.72 per cent to 28,444.61 at 1030hrs.