New Delhi: The rupee appreciated 5 paise to 77.52 against the US dollar in the opening trade on Wednesday as a firm trend in domestic equities boosted investor sentiments.

However, surging global crude prices and unabated foreign capital outflows capped the appreciation bias in the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 77.54 against the American dollar, then gained some more ground to quote 77.52, registering a rise of 5 paise over the previous close. It was moving in a close range of 77.54 to 77.51 in early deals.

In the previous session, the rupee settled at 77.57 against the American currency.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.06 percent higher at 101.92.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 242.62 points or 0.45 per cent higher at 54,295.23 points while the broader NSE Nifty climbed 68.85 points or 0.43 percent to 16,194 points.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures surged 1.20 percent to USD 114.92 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,393.45 crore, as per stock exchange data.

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