Rupee falls by 20 paise against dollar in early trade

The Indian rupee depreciated by 20 paise against the US currency in early trade on Sunday, as weak trend in Asian equities raised concerns of capital outflows by funds from the domestic stock markets.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency was quoted at 49.07 against the dollar, a fall of 20 paise over the previous close of 48.87/88 a dollar.

On Friday, the domestic currency ended 10 paise higher at 48.87/88 against the dollar.

Dealers said concerns of capital outflows by funds on expectations that the domestic stock markets may open in negative zone in tandem with other Asian bourses mainly put pressure on the Indian rupee.

They said dollar's gains against other currencies also had some pressure on the Indian rupee.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell by 2.41 per cent while, Japan's Nikkei moved down by 1.67 per cent in early trade.