Mumbai, Feb 27 (PTI) The rupee declined 17 paise to settle at 91.08 against the US dollar on Friday weighed down by a massive outflow of foreign fund and a sharp rise in global crude oil prices amid geopolitical uncertainties.

Negative sentiment in domestic equity markets further pressured the local unit, according to forex traders.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.91 and moved in a narrow range of 90.91-91.08 before settling at 91.08, down 17 paise from its previous close.

The rupee settled on a flat note at 90.91 against the US dollar on Thursday.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on weak tone in the domestic equities and geopolitical risks between the US and Iran. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 90.70 to Rs 91.20," Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset ShareKhan, said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 97.74.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was up 1.64 per cent to USD 71.91 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex tumbled 961.42 points to settle at 81,287.19, while the Nifty was down 317.90 points to 25,178.65.

On Friday, foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 7,536.36 crore, according to exchange data.

On the macroeconomic front, India's economic growth estimate was raised to 7.6 per cent for the current fiscal on Friday following a revamp of the GDP calculation framework, underscoring the resilience of the world's fastest-growing major economy amid global trade disruptions.

The country's forex reserves dropped by USD 2.119 billion to USD 723.608 billion during the week ended February 20, the RBI said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had jumped by USD 8.663 billion to a new all-time high of USD 725.727 billion. PTI TRB HVA

Rupee depreciation driven by foreign outflows and rising oil prices puts pressure on currency and equity markets. Rupee declined against the US dollar due to large foreign fund outflows, higher global crude oil prices and weakening domestic equity markets; foreign institutional investors sold heavily and forex reserves fell in the reporting week, even as a GDP calculation revision raised the growth estimate, highlighting resilience amid external pressures.