Mumbai, Jul 14 (PTI) The rupee fell 17 paise to 85.97 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday amid a strengthening greenback and FII outflows.

Uncertainties over US trade tariffs further pressured the rupee, according to forex experts.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened 85.96 against the US dollar before slipping to 85.97, down 17 paise from its previous close. The rupee had closed at 85.80 against the US dollar on Friday.

"As (US President Donald) Trump applies tariffs on various countries, India remains out of the tariffs band for now with negotiations still on to finalise the amount of tariff that the US could apply. The range for rupee during the day is expected to be 85.50-86.00," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.08 per cent to 97.93.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was down 0.19 per cent to USD 70.02 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex dropped 295.37 points to 82,205.10, while the Nifty was down 71.4 points to 25,078.45.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 5,104.22 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.

Further, the latest Reserve Bank of India data released on Friday showed India's forex reserves dropping USD 3.049 billion to USD 699.736 billion in the week ended July 4. PTI TRB DR DR

Foreign exchange volatility: rupee weakens as dollar strength and capital outflows pressure reserves and market stability. The rupee weakened against the US dollar due to a stronger dollar and net capital outflows by foreign institutional investors, with added pressure from uncertainties over US trade tariffs. The movement coincided with equity market declines and lower crude futures, while reported foreign exchange reserves fell, raising implications for Reserve Management and central bank foreign exchange and monetary policy measures under RBI/FEMA oversight.