The rupee depreciated by 15 paise against the US currency in early trade on Friday on increased dollar demand by banks and concerns over fund outflows from the weak domestic equity markets in tandem with falling Asian bourses.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency was quoted at 49.12 against the dollar, a fall of 15 paise over the previous close of 48.97/98 a dollar.