The rupee plunged 31 paise to 82.23 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday amid massive outflow of foreign funds and subdued equity markets.

Elevated level of crude prices nearing USD 84 a barrel also weighed on the domestic unit even as the American currency gained strength on the back of better-than-expected GDP numbers from the US, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.30, then touched a high of 82.19 against the American currency. It later traded at 82.23, registering a fall of 31 paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 81.92 against the dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell marginally by 0.02 per cent to 101.76.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.40 per cent lower at USD 83.90 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 227.44 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 66,039.38. The broader NSE Nifty declined 55 points or 0.28 per cent to 19,604.90.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,979.44 crore, according to exchange data.

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