The rupee eased by 4 paise in early trade today on fresh capital outflows by foreign funds and the dollar's gain against other Asian currencies.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee fell by 4 paise to 45.53 a dollar.
The rupee had closed lower by 5 paise at 45.49/50 a dollar in the previous session.
Forex dealers said weak trend on stock markets following capital outflows by foreign funds after the RBI raised short-term interest rates by 25 paise points late on Friday, weighed on the rupee sentiment.
Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange index, Sensex, fell by 240.85 points, or 1.37 per cent to 17,337.38 points in the opening trade today.
