Mumbai, January 15: The rupee depreciated by 10 paise and fell below the 71 per dollar mark in opening trade Tuesday amid strengthening greenback, sustained foreign fund outflows and surging crude oil prices.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened weak at Rs 70.79 then fell further to 71.02 against the American currency, down by 10 paise over its previous closing price. In highly volatile trade, the local currency also touched a high of 70.75 per US dollar, showing a rise of 17 paise over its last close. Sensex Rallies Over 300 Points; Nifty Reclaims 10,800 Mark.

The rupee Monday plunged 43 paise to close at nearly one-month low of 70.92 against the US dollar. Foreign funds pulled out Rs 732.46 crore from the capital markets on a net basis, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 527.49 crore Monday, provisional data showed.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading with gains of 296.15 points, or 0.83 per cent to quote at 35,149.71 while the NSE Nifty was trading at 10,785.25, up 47.65 points, or 0.46 per cent.

Meanwhile, brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading lower at 59.68 per barrel higher by 1.17 per cent. Forex traders said the strength of the US dollar against other currencies weighed on the domestic unit. On the other hand, heavy buying in domestic equities supported the rupee.