The rupee depreciated 4 paise to 82.83 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, weighed down by a muted trend in domestic equities.

However, fresh foreign fund inflows and a weak American currency against major rivals overseas capped the losses in the domestic unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened flat at 82.79 against the dollar. Later, it lost some ground to quote at 82.83, registering a decline of 4 paise over its last close.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the rupee settled at 82.79 against the dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.09 per cent to 104.01.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose slightly by 0.06 per cent to USD 83.10 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 279.41 points or 0.46 per cent lower at 60,393.31. The broader NSE Nifty fell 86.55 points or 0.49 per cent to 17,740.15.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) emerged as net buyers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they bought shares worth Rs 525.80 crore, according to exchange data.

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