The rupee depreciated by another 17 paise to 66.63 against the dollar in early trade today as the US currency strengthened in overseas markets.

Forex dealers said persistent demand for the dollar from importers and sustained capital outflows by foreign funds also weighed on the rupee.

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It dipped further to 66.80 before quoting at 66.71 per dollar at 1030 hrs. It hovered in a range of 66.57 and 66.80 during the morning deals.

Volatile domestic equities coupled with higher dollar overseas impacted the rupee sentiment, dealers said.

The dollar index was up by 0.01 per cent at 96.29 as against a basket of six currencies in the early trade.

"The USD-INR currency pair will continue to get influenced by global forex and domestic equity moves," a dealer said, adding exporters are expected to hedge their US dollar receivables on upticks towards 66.80 per dollar. It should trade in a range of 66.35-66.85 per dollar for the day, the dealers said.

Oil prices eased in Asian trade on Monday as dealers await the US Federal Reserve's decision on whether to raise interest rate following a mixed August jobs report, analysts said.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex trading marginally lower by 2 points to 25,200.03 at 10:30 am.

PTI