Rupee down 18 paise a dollar in early trade

The Indian rupee today depreciated by 18 paise to 46.38 against the US currency in early trade on expectations of capital outflows by foreign funds and dollar demand from importers.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit traded 18 paise down at 46.38 a dollar.

The rupee ended 10 paise higher at 46.20/21 against the US currency in the previous session.

Forex dealers said expectations of more capital outflows by foreign funds as stock market may remain weak in early trade in tandem with weak Asian markets and demand for the US dollar from importers mainly put pressure on the Indian rupee.

Meanwhile, in a choppy trade, the benchmark Sensex ended lower by 51.87 points or 0.30 per cent yesterday.