Mumbai: The rupee today fell sharply by 55 paise to close at fresh two-year low of 47.81/82 against the US currency as investors rushed for the dollar as a safe haven investment amid global worries. Renewed dollar demand from importers and some banks and weakness in equities also weighed on the rupee, dealers said. Failure in announcing a rescue for debt-ridden Greek by European finance ministers in a meeting last Friday hit the high risk assets like euro and equities, as traders went for dollar as a safe haven investment, leading to a smart rise in dollar overseas, traders said. Dollar index was up by about 0.7 per cent against its six major rivals in Europe. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market the domestic unit opened bearish at 47.55/56 a dollar from last close of 47.26/27. It gradually declined further to a low of 47.8350 before ending at 47.81/82, level not seen since September 29, 2009 when it had closed at 48.10/11. "Indian equity markets traded weak throughout the day and ended down by over 1 per cent which depreciated the rupee. Fall in Euro and Dollar demand from oil importers also helped dollar to gain against rupee," Alpari Financial Services (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said. "High risk is still evident in the global economy with a general feeling that the European politicians won't be able to solve the debt problem fundamentally. The cancellation of a visit by Greek Prime Minister to US also added to it," Abhishek Goenka, CEO, India Forex Advisors said. "The fall in the rupee is expected to continue and we can target 48.20 levels in near term," he added. .