The rupee depreciated 8 paise to 82.76 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, weighed down by strength of the American currency in the overseas market.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.76, registering a decline of 8 paise over its last close.

On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 82.68 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.14 per cent to 104.02.

"In the overseas markets, the US Dollar Index started flat to marginally stronger above the USD 104 levels Thursday morning in Asian trading supported by safe haven demand," said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst- Commodities & Currencies, Reliance Securities Limited.

The Chinese Yuan continued to weaken further, and overall risk aversion will also restrict the upside for the local unit, Iyer added.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.05 per cent to USD 78.32 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 27.21 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 61,746.57. The broader NSE Nifty declined 5.90 points or 0.03 per cent to 18,279.50.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,185.84 crore, according to exchange data.

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