Indian rupee opens lower at 61.64 per dollar; down 10 paise

The Indian rupee opened lower by 10 paise at 61.64 per dollar versus 61.54 Wednesday.

The US dollar trades at a near one-week high against a basket of major currencies early this morning, having returned to levels seen before last week's soft payrolls data as faith in the US economic recovery was restored.

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Ashok Gautam, Axis Bank said, "Weaker US December payroll erases hopes of QE taper in January 29 FOMC meet. FIIs bought over Rs 25,000 crore worth Indian bonds in the recent past and the quantum could increase in coming days."

"Strength in Indian equities will have a positive impact on the rupee. Dollar-rupee breached the support of 61.90/USD and could drive towards 60.90/USD support levels. The range is seen between 61.50-62.50/USD," he added.