Mumbai: The rupee weakened by 9 paise to 73.92 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, on increased demand for the American currency from banks and importers.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the domestic currency opened higher at 73.79 but lost ground and fell to 73.92.

Dealers attributed the rupee's fall to the dollar's strength against some other currencies overseas but fresh inflows by foreign funds and a higher opening in domestic equity markets capped the losses.

Moreover, weak exports data also dampened sentiments in the forex market. India's exports entered the negative zone after five months, contracting 2.15% in September to USD 27.95 billion, according to commerce ministry data.

The domestic currency hit an all-time low of 74.46 against the US dollar on Thursday. It opened weak at 74.37 and slipped further to quote a lifetime low of 74.45, depreciating 24 paise against the US dollar in early trade.
  
On Wednesday, the rupee closed 18 paise higher against the dollar at 74.21 after snapping a six-session losing streak.

Experts feel a strong demand for the US dollar from importers amid unabated foreign fund outflows and a sharp loss in the domestic equity market hurt the sentiment. Concerns of fears of rising fiscal deficit also weighed on the domestic currency

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth Rs 67.86 crore on net basis from stock markets on Monday, according to the BSE data.

With agency inputs