Mumbai, Aug 3 (TIWN) The rupee, after registering gains for four straight sessions, depreciated sharply on Wednesday, due to weak macroeconomic data and rise in the dollar index.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee ended 45 paise lower at 79.16 against the US dollar, as compared to 78.71 close on the previous trading session.  "Rupee traded very weak near 79.25 - a fall of more than 0.50 points as the dollar index rose above 106$ on back of US China geopolitical issues with regards to Taiwan. Also India's trade deficit widened to an all time high, sending signals on imbalance of trade, guiding rupee weaker to the dollar," said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities.