The Indian rupee fell to 96.39 against the US dollar in early trade on October 6. It slipped 4 paise from its previous close. Rising crude oil prices and continued foreign investor outflows weighed on the currency. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 96.29. It then fell to 96.39, according to forex traders. Foreign institutional investors sold Indian equities worth 4,699.14 crore rupees on Monday. It was their seventh straight session of net selling. Provisional NSE data showed foreign portfolio investors sold 46.99 billion rupees, or about 488 million dollars. Domestic institutional investors partly offset the selling. They bought shares worth 51.82 billion rupees on a net basis. Brent crude traded near 100.60 dollars a barrel. The dollar index stood at 102.12. A weaker dollar index and gains in domestic equities limited the fall. The Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee began its three-day meeting on Monday. Markets expect a rate hike on October 7. India’s forex reserves fell 18.343 billion dollars to 747.557 billion dollars in the week ended September 25.