Rupee down 3 paise at 48.16 a dollar in early trade

The Indian rupee on Tuesday fell marginally by 3 paise to 48.16 against the US dollar in early trade on expectations of fresh capital outflows as the stock market may open lower in line with mixed trends in other Asian markets.

Dollar demand from importers also put pressure on the Indian rupee. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit traded 3 paise down at 48.16 a dollar. The rupee ended 2 paise higher at 48.13/14 against the US currency in the previous session on Friday.

The Forex market remained closed yesterday on account of Eid-ul-Fitr.

Dealers said the rupee turned weak in anticipation of fresh capital outflows as the stock markets may commence in a negative zone but firming of some Asian currencies against the dollar capped rupee's losses.