The rupee fell by 49 paise to close at 81.89 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday as heavy selling pressure in the domestic equities and a spike in crude oil prices weighed on the local unit.
Besides, a stronger greenback against key rivals and persistent foreign fund outflows put pressure on the domestic currency, forex dealers said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened weak at 81.65, fell further to 81.98 against the American currency.
It finally ended at 81.89, down 49 paise over its previous close.
In the previous session, the rupee settled at 81.40 against the greenback.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 638.11 points or 1.11 per cent to end at 56,788.81, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 207 points or 1.21 per cent to 16,887.35.