The rupee fell 6 paise to 68.59 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Monday on fresh buying of the American currency by importers.
Traders said dollar’s strength against some currencies overseas and fresh demand of the U.S. currency from importers weighed on investor sentiment.
Besides, India’s trade deficit widening to a more than three-and-a-half-year high of $16.6 billion due to costlier crude oil imports, too kept pressure on the rupee.
On Friday, the rupee saw a marginal four paise rise in its value at 68.53 a dollar.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose 117.08 points, or 0.32%, to 36,658.71 in opening trade.
