The rupee on Thursday fell back by 16 paise to close at 51.58/59 against the US currency on fresh dollar demand from importers and some banks despite firm local equity markets.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened higher at 51.39/40 a dollar from overnight close of 51.42/43 and immediately touched a high of 51.25 on renewed selling of dollars by banks and exporters.

But, later it reacted downwards to close at 51.58/59 per dollar, showing a loss of 16 paise or 0.31 per cent on fresh dollar demand from importers amidst firm dollar overseas.