The rupee pared its initial gains to close down by 35 paise against the US currency on Tuesday due to fresh dollar demand from importers and weak domestic equity markets.
Snapping its three-session gaining string, the rupee settled at 49.32/33 a dollar, down by 35 paise over the last close.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened higher at 48.90/91 a dollar from its last close of 48.97/98 and immediately touched a high of 48.84 due to early rally in local stocks.
Sustained dollar selling by exporters as well as renewed capital inflows also supported the rupee in morning deals.
However, dollar buying by importers and some banks in the later part of the day amid late weakness in local stocks, put pressure on the rupee and it fell back to a low of 49.39 before settling at 49.32/33, a net fall of 0.71 per cent.
In the last three sessions, it had surged by 62 paise or 1.26 per cent.