The rupee dropped 16 paise to 61.96 against the US currency in late morning trade on good dollar demand from banks and importers. The Indian unit resumed lower at 61.83 per dollar as against the last closing level of 61.80 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market and dropped further to 61.97 before quoting at 61.96 per dollar at 1045 hours. It hovered in a range of 61.83-61.97 per dollar during the morning deals. Good dollar demand from banks and importers mainly affected the rupee value against the greenback, a forex dealer said. In the global market, oil futures slid to just above USD 98 per barrel on Tuesday but notched a 7 per cent gain for a year, which was marked by improving global economic growth and plentiful US supplies. Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex rose 45.92 points or 0.22 per cent to 21,216.80 at 1045 hours.

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