The rupee depreciated by 11 paise to 46.41 against the US currency in early trade largely on fresh demand for the US currency from importers.

However, dollar's weakness against other major currencies, prevented major losses in rupee.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit traded 11 paise down at 46.41 a dollar. The rupee ended 20 paise higher at 46.30/31 against the US unit in the previous session after the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex ended over 409 points higher.

Forex dealers said some demand for dollar from importers and mixed cues from Asian stock exchanges mainly put some pressure on the local currency.