Rupee rises 21 paise against US dollar in early trade

Maintaining its uptrend for the fourth straight day, the rupee strengthened by 21 paise to a fresh one-month high of 66.85 against the dollar in early trade today on increased selling of the greenback by exporters and banks.

Forex dealers said a higher opening of the domestic equity market supported the rupee but the dollar's strength against some currencies overseas after the release of an upbeat US jobs report capped the gains.

On Friday, the rupee had gained 35 paise against the US currency to end at a near one-month high of 67.06 after a flurry of upbeat economic data bolstered confidence in the growth outlook.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading sharply higher by 328.33 points, or 0.93 per cent, at 35,555.59 in opening trade.