The Indian rupee today appreciated by 4 paise against the US currency in early trade on hopes of fresh capital inflows into equity markets in line with firming trends on other Asian markets. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the local unit appreciated to 46.81 a dollar. The rupee ended 13 paise lower at 46.85 on Monday. Asian markets were up over one per cent in early trade. Dealers said, Dollar's firmness against other currencies, however, capped the gains of rupee.