Rupee falls to 48.03, lowest since Dec 2002

The rupee fell to its lowest since December 2002 on Tuesday, weighed down by a stronger dollar overseas and losses in the local stock market which raised concerns on more foreign fund outflows.

At 12:16 p.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 48.03/04 per dollar, its lowest since Dec. 20, 2002 and 0.5 per cent weaker than 47.80/81 at close on Monday.

India's main share index was down 1.5 per cent as investors were unable to shake off jitters about global economic woes, after initially rising as much as 3.2 per cent on liquidity boosting measures by regulators.