The rupee recovered from initial losses in pre-noon deals to trade at 64.96, still down by 15 paise against the dollar due to strong demand for the greenback from importers and banks.

The rupee resumed lower at 64.97 per dollar against yesterday’s closing level of 64.81 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market today. Later, it fell sharply to 65.15 on heavy dollar demand before paring losses to trade at 64.96 at 11.40 am local time.

The greenback hovered in a range of 65.15 per dollar and 64.93 per dollar during morning deals.

According to forex dealers, persistent FII outflows amid expectations of one more rate by the US Federal Reserve has put pressure on the rupee.

As per provisional exchange data, FPIs withdrew over Rs 1,200 crore on net basis from stock markets yesterday. Overseas, the US dollar was largely lower against the basket of currencies in early Asian trade.