The rupee depreciated 15 paise to 81.45 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, weighed down by a muted trend in domestic equities and foreign fund outflows.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 81.45 against the dollar, registering a decline of 15 paise over its last close.

In initial trade the rupee also touched an early high of 81.27 against the US dollar.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the rupee settled at 81.30 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.09 per cent to 102.26.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.18 per cent to USD 83.98 per barrel.

Forex traders expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on global economic concerns.

IMF Managing Director Gita Gopinath warned of a tough year in 2023 for the global economy. The global economy is facing a unique situation due to unprecedented levels of high inflation and that is causing tension between monetary and fiscal policies, IMF's Gita Gopinath said on Wednesday.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 140.49 points or 0.23 per cent lower at 60,905.25. The broader NSE Nifty declined 65.45 points or 0.36 per cent to 18,099.90.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 319.23 crore, according to exchange data.

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