The rupee skidded by 16 paise on Tuesday -- its third straight session of loss -- to close at 71.44 against the US dollar amid strengthening of the greenback and heavy selling in domestic equities.

Concerns over slowing global growth and foreign capital outflows weighed on the local unit, forex traders said.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the rupee opened higher at 71.22 but came under selling pressure. It finally finished at 71.44 against the dollar, down by 16 paise against its previous close.

The rupee has now lost 41 paise in three days.

“Rupee continued to trend down for the third day on global growth concerns. IMF predicted global economy will grow at the weakest pace in three years in 2019 and warned fresh trade tensions would spell further trouble.

“The benchmark 10-year bond yield held steady around yesterday’s level of 7.30 per cent. So far this month, the rupee has declined 1.87 per cent, while overseas funds sold $554.5 million in equity and $193.10 million in debt segments,” said V K Sharma, Head PCG and Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities.