The rupee depreciated 6 paise to 82.01 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, weighed down by foreign fund outflows and a negative trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.00 against the dollar, then fell to 82.01, registering a decline of 6 paise over its last close.

On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 81.95 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.04 per cent to 101.82.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.37 per cent to USD 81.07 per barrel.

"The undercurrents of the rising chaos on the global front amid geo-political concerns and a sudden change in the risk on and off mode are not healthy for the currency.

"However, in the near-term perspective, the pair has been squeezed between 81.80-82.20, and a push above 82.20 is required to take the pair towards 82.50-82.80 levels," CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 157.29 points or 0.26 per cent lower at 59,973.42 points. The broader NSE Nifty declined 50.30 points or 0.28 per cent to 17,718.95 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 407.35 crore, according to exchange data.

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