Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by five paise to trade at 66.20 against the US dollar on the first trading day of 2016 due to fresh buying of the American currency by banks and importers.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee was trading lower by 5 paise against the previous close of 66.15. Dealers said increased demand for the American unit from importers and a lower opening in the domestic market weighed.
Dollar's gain overnight against major world currencies also influenced the rupee movement, they added. The rupee had appreciated 24 paise to end at 66.15 against the greenback on Thursday.
Marking the fifth consecutive year of depreciation, the rupee ended 2015 with a yearly loss of 312 paise, or 4.95 per cent, against the US dollar on heavy funds outflows.
Meanwhile, the stock markets opened on a subdued note on the first trading day of 2016, with the benchmark BSE Sensex sliding over 51 points in early trade on profit-booking after recent gains.
The 30-share index, which had gained 157.51 points in the previous session, fell 51.29 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 26,066.25 in early trade on Friday.
Stocks of technology, metal, power, healthcare and banking sectors were leading the fall in early trade. ONGC, Sun Pharma, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Infosys, GAIL, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp and Wipro fell up to 1.53 per cent.
Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, TCS, Dr Reddy's, RIL and ITC were also the drag on the index. In contrast, Tata Motors, L&T, SBI, Mahindra & Mahindra, Adani Ports and Cipla poked into the positive zone. The broad-based NSE Nifty was down 25.25 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 7,921.10.
Brokers said profit-booking in stocks that logged gains recently and absence of cues from other Asian markets, which are closed today, had an impact.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.02 per cent down on the final day of 2015 on Thursday.
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