The Indian rupee opened at an all-time low against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday.

The partially convertible rupee was trading at a record low of 78.86 per dollar (21.50 versus the UAE dirham) in early trade, compared to its close of 78.85 on Tuesday, news agency PTI reported.

According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs12.44 billion.

The renewed rise in global crude oil prices too have a negative bearing on the market sentiments, said analysts.

On Tuesday, the indices closed steady, while they have declined during the majority of the sessions so far in June.

On rupee depreciation, Sugandha Sachdeva, Vice President - Commodity and Currency Research at Religare Broking, said: “The Indian rupee has plummeted to fresh lows, depreciating by around half a percent against the dollar owing to a muted trend in domestic equities, and strong gains in crude oil prices.”

“Persistent selling by FIIs in the domestic markets is also putting pressure on the rupee,” said Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities Ltd.

According to Kalantri, further economic sanctions on Russia may drive global energy prices higher and put pressure on emerging market currencies.

“We expect the rupee to remain volatile this week and could cross 78.55 levels,” Kalantri said.

The Sensex fell by 564.77 points to 52,612.68 in early trade, while the Nifty declined by 162.4 points to 15,687.80.