The rupee fell 2 paise to trade at 84.49 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday dragged down by significant foreign fund outflows and month-end dollar demand from importers.

Forex traders said the rupee remains in a weakening mode due to dollar demand from importers and foreign banks.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 84.49 against the greenback, registering a fall of 2 paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee depreciated 7 paise to close at 84.47 against US dollar.

As FPIs sold Rs 11,000 crore of shares on Thursday Indian rupee was constantly on the selling side against the US dollar which surged to its highest at 84.51 before closing at 84.4850 with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) protecting any fall beyond 84.50 for now, Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP said.

"Good month-end demand for US dollar and FPIs buying it kept dollar well bid near to 84.50. Expect the buying to continue on Friday also," Bhansali added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.18 per cent at 105.85.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.14 per cent to USD 73.38 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 396.99 points or 0.50 per cent to 79,440.73 in morning trade, while Nifty was up 128.00 points or 0.54 per cent to 24,042.15 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 11,756.25 crore in the capital markets on net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.

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