The rupee depreciated 5 paise to 82.72 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday as a negative trend in domestic equities and firm crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments.

Sustained foreign fund outflows, strength of the American currency in the overseas market further dented sentiments, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.71, then touched 82.72, registering a decline of 5 paise over its last close.

On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 82.67 against the dollar, registering a fall of 45 paise from its previous close.

This was the biggest single-day fall for the rupee in nearly six months. The Indian currency had witnessed the steepest intra-day fall of 68 paise on February 6, when it had settled at 82.76 against the greenback.

The rupee was trading in a negative note on risk aversion in global markets and weak Asian currencies. There was also downside pressure on the local unit due to strong dollar against major rivals overseas, traders said.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.10 per cent to 102.68.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.10 per cent to USD 83.28 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 23.31 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 65,759.47. The broader NSE Nifty declined 11.90 points or 0.06 per cent to 19,514.65.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,877.84 crore, according to exchange data.

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