Mumbai
The rupee depreciated by 15 paise to 71.02 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday at the interbank foreign exchange, after US President Donald Trump suggested a tariff hike on Chinese goods.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened lower at 70.91 and declined further to quote at 71.02, showing a fall of 15 paise over its previous close. The rupee on Monday fell by 18 paise to close at 70.87 against the US dollar.

Forex dealers said fresh demand for the American currency from importers amid marginal rise in crude prices weighed on the domestic unit.

The international benchmark, Brent crude, was trading higher by 0.28 per cent to USD 60.65 per barrel.

Traders said fresh foreign inflows restricted the decline in the local unit.

Foreign institutional investors made fresh purchases worth Rs 62.74 crore on Monday, as per provisional data.