The rupee eased by 3 paise against the dollar in early trade today after a six-day rally on fresh capital outflows by foreign funds and a firm US currency.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee fell by 3 paise to 45.55 a dollar.
The rupee closed higher by 8 paise at 45.52/53 a dollar in the previous session after hitting an eight-week high of 45.38 due to persistent selling of dollars by exporters and banks on continued capital inflows by foreign funds.
Forex dealers said the dollar gaining against other Asian currencies and a weak trend on stock markets weighed on the rupee sentiment.
Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange index Sensex fell by 41.31 points, or 0.24 per cent to 17,061.29 points in the opening trade today.