The rupee declined by 15 paise to 61.51 in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on fresh dollar demand from banks and importers amidst strengthening of the American currency overseas.
Forex dealers said besides the dollar gaining against other currencies in the global markets, increased demand for the American unit from importers weighed on the rupee but surging domestic equity markets, capped the fall.
The rupee gained nine paise to close at 61.36 against the dollar in the previous session on Friday.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex opened higher by 103.99 points, or 0.37 per cent, to reach a new lifetime high of 27,969.82 in early trade today.
