Rupee moves up for 5th straight session, up 9 paise to 66.31

Rising for the fifth straight session, the rupee gained 9 paise at 66.31 against the dollar in early trade today at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters.

Forex dealers said sustained selling of the American unit by exporters and the dollar's weakness against some currencies overseas supported the rupee, but a lower opening in domestic equity market restricted the gains.

The rupee had appreciated by a modest two paise to settle at 66.40 against the greenback on Friday.

It had gained 69 paise in the past four trading sessions.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 105.68 points, or 0.41 per cent, to trade at 25,413.54 in early trade.

Sun Pharma shares slump 7.5% on warning letter from USFDA.

Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical slumped 7.5 percent Monday as the company has received a warning letter from the USFDA over violation of manufacturing norms at its facility at Halol in Gujarat.

The stock dipped 7.39 percent to Rs 732 on BSE.

On NSE, it plunged 7.48 percent to Rs 731.

The stock was the top loser among the blue-chip Sensex and Nifty scrips.

The warning letter follows inspection of the facility in September 2014 by US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspectors.

"Post the September 2014 inspection, the USFDA has withheld future product approvals from the Halol facility.

This situation may continue until all issues are resolved. "Sun Pharma expects to request a re-inspection by USFDA upon completion of its remediation commitments," the company had said in a statement on Saturday.

"Sun Pharma will respond to this warning letter with a detailed plan within the stipulated time frame," it said.