On Monday, the rupee lost 34 paise to Rs. 54.35 in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange, due to increased dollar demand from importers and appreciation of the U.S. currency overseas.

According to the Forex dealers, a weak opening in the domestic stock market also put pressure on the local currency. They also added that Dollar strengthening against euro on reports that Cyprus would have to tax bank customers’ deposits as part of an EU bailout deal, mainly pulled down the rupee.

Moreover, on Friday the domestic currency had gained 34 paise to close at a two-week high of Rs. 54.01 on robust capital inflows and heavy selling of the American currency by exporters.

At the same time, the BSE benchmark Sensex declined by 183.14 points, or 0.94 per cent, at 19,244.42 in early trade today.

(AW:Samrat Biswas)