The Indian rupee fell by 25 paise to Rs 48.94 per US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange today due to appreciation of the American currency against other major rivals overseas and a lower opening in the domestic equity market.
Dealers attributed the rupee's fall to dollar gains against the euro overseas on renewed worries about the Eurozone debt crisis and a lower opening in the domestic stock market.
The rupee had strengthened by 7 paise to close at an over five-week high of Rs 48.69/70 against the US dollar in the previous session on sustained dollar-selling by exporters.
Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex was down by 102.93 points, or 0.58%, at 17,602.08 in opening trade today.