Sustained capital outflows and deepening the domestic economy also weighed on the rupee.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency opened sharply lower at 50.03 a dollar from the overnight close of 49.94/95 and dropped further to quote at 50.18/20. The 50-level was last seen on February 18.

After an overnight brief recovery, the Indian benchmark Sensex moved down by over 77 points, or 0.87 per cent, at 1030 hours, while Asian indices resumed mixed with downwards bias due to fall on Wall Street on Wednesday.

Month-end dollar from oil refiners and importers also put pressure on the rupee. The global crude oil was trading above USD 42 a barrel in Asian trade on Thursday.