 "An employee counts rupee notes at a cash counter inside a bank in Agartala")
The rupee depreciated by 17 paise to 66.79 against the US dollar in early trade today due to increased demand for the American currency from importers amid a lower opening of the domestic equity market.
Besides, growth in industrial production plunging to 0.1% in March and retail inflation soared to 5.39% in April, also put pressure on the rupee, forex dealers said.
However, the US dollar's weakness against some currencies overseas capped the losses.
Yesterday, the domestic unit had lost 6 paise to close at 66.62 due to higher greenback in the overseas market.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 238.12 points, or 0.92%, to trade at 25,552.10 in early trade today.
