Unnerved by mayhem in the equity markets and heightened global currency volatility, the rupee on Tuesday took a hefty knock by falling 17 paise to end at a fresh seven-week low of 64.24 against the US dollar ahead of the RBI monetary policy outcome tomorrow. Frantic dollar demand from importers and banks in the midst of fresh foreign fund outflows predominantly weighed on the forex sentiment. Stretching the slide for the fourth straight day, the home currency has depreciated by a staggering 66 paise in these four days. The Indian currency hit a low of 64.40 intra-day before staging a recovery in line with local equities. However, abundant forex reserves in the face of robust foreign direct and institutional investment flows along with a steep fall in global crude prices largely averted any major upset. The rupee resumed the day with a gap-down at 64.35 from Monday's close of 64.07 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market. It kept descending associated with huge market volatility and hit a fresh low of 64.40 in mid-morning deals. However, moving in tandem with the recovery trend in local equities, the home unit bounced back to cut short early steep losses and ended day at 64.24, depreciating by 17 paise, or 0.27 per cent - the level not seen since December 19 last year.