MUMBAI: The rupee weakened by 19 paise to 70.25 against the US dollar in early trade Thursday due to fresh buying of the American currency by importers and banks.
A higher opening of the domestic equity market, however, capped the loss, brokers said.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened sharp lower at 70.27 a dollar against the previous close of 70.06.
The domestic unit moved in a tight range of 70.31 to 70.22 in the morning trade. On Wednesday, the rupee trimmed its early gains to settle 8 paise higher at 70.06 against the US currency.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 1.18 per cent at USD 54.64 per barrel.
On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 80.28 crore Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 137.63 crore.
Meanwhile, BSE benchmark Sensex rallied 391 points and NSE Nifty reclaimed the 10,800 level Thursday on positive cues from Wall Street.