Mumbai, Mar 11 (PTI) The rupee fell 4 paise to 91.89 against US dollar in early trade on Wednesday weighed down by FII outflows and the unrelenting conflict in the Middle East.

However, a weaker greenback and falling global crude oil prices prevented sharper loss in the local unit, according to forex traders.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.92 against the US dollar before rising to 91.89, down 4 paise from its previous close.

The rupee staged a strong recovery from its record low against the US dollar on Tuesday, gaining 36 paise to settle at 91.85.

"The rupee fell to 92.19 levels on Tuesday but was able to gain back on flows from SBI Bond issue and the Reserve bank of India (RBI) selling at 92.00 levels. The RBI is clearly uncomfortable with the rupee falling again and again and has ensured that the level of 92.00 is not breached at least for now," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.

"For the day, we expect the rupee to trade in the range of 91.50-92.10," he added.

Meanwhile, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.38 per cent at USD 87.47 per barrel in futures trade.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent lower at 98.78.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex dropped 96.12 points to 78,109.86 in the morning session while the Nifty was down 22.95 points to 24,238.65.

Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 4,672.64 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to exchange data. PTI TRB DR DR

RBI intervention prevents further rupee depreciation as outflows and geopolitical tensions pressure the currency, while oil declines temper losses. The rupee weakened intraday amid foreign institutional investor outflows and Middle East geopolitical tensions, with a softer dollar and falling crude curbing larger losses; reported Reserve Bank of India selling and domestic bond flows helped prevent a breach of a key exchange level and set an intraday trading range.