The rupee lost 12 paise to trade below 55 level against the dollar on sustained demand of the US currency from importers despite lower dollar overseas. The rupee opened weak at 55.06 per dollar as against the previous closing level of 54.88 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market. It dropped further to 55.20 before quoting 55.00 per dollar at 1100 hrs, still down by 12 paise over previous close. The rupee hovered in a range of 54.80 and 55.20 per dollar during late morning deals. Persistent dollar demand from importers' pressured rupee sentiment, dealers said. In international market, the US dollar turned weaker against Japanese yen in early trade after a senior Japanese official comment over currency 'correction'. Meanwhile, the BSE-30 share barometer Sensex was trading higher by 139.34 points or 0.69 per cent, quoting 20,425.46 at 1100 hours.

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