The rupee on Wednesday fell by 50 paise to 61.27 against the US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to heavy demand for the US currency from importers amid a lower opening in the equity market.

Forex dealers said increased demand for the American currency from imoprters and a weak opening in the domestic equity put pressure on the rupee but dollar’s weakness against other currencies in the global market capped the fall.

The rupee ended 11 paise higher at 60.77 against the dollar on RBI intervention after plunging to an all-time intra-day low of 61.80 in yesterday’s trade.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex was down by 46.89 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 18,686.15 in early trade on Wednesday.