Mumbai, January 19: The rupee today depreciated by 16 paise against the US currency following weakness in equity markets amid firm dollar overseas.
In fairly active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency closed lower by 16 paise at 45.80/81 a dollar.
The rupee opened strong at 45.57/58 a dollar, but later fell to a low of 45.82 a dollar in line with flat Asian currenices.
Dealers said the rupee moved in line with the movements in local equity markets. The Indian benchmark Sensex ended lower by 155.02 points or 0.88 per cent.
A firm dollar overseas also weighed on the rupee sentiment, they added. The euro fell to its lowest since early January against the dollar, after a survey of German economic sentiment came in lower than expected.
Meanwhile, global crude oil prices were trading below USD 78 a barrel in London today.
–Agencies