The rupee depreciated marginally by 9 paise to 71.57 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday amid unabated foreign fund outflows and cautious opening in domestic equities.

Forex traders said concerns about US-China trade spat kept market participants edgy. Rupee and most Asian currencies like South Korean won, Thai Baht, Malaysian ringgit, Japanese yen and Indonesian rupiah were trading lower, they added.

 At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened weak at 71.50 then fell to 71.57 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 9 paise over its previous closing.

The domestic currency however pared the initial losses and was trading at 71.51 against the American currency at 0943 hours.

The Indian rupee on Tuesday had closed at 71.48 against the US dollar.

Traders said cautious opening in domestic equities, strengthening of the American unit vis-a-vis other currencies overseas, rising crude oil prices and foreign fund outflows weighed on the local unit.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.67 per cent to USD 59.91 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 923.94 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 98.07, higher by 0.08 per cent.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.52 per cent in morning trade.

Domestic bourses opened on a cautious note on Wednesday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 28.78 points down at 37,612.49 and Nifty higher by 11.50 points at 11,093.85.