Rupee strengthens by 7 paise against dollar in early trade

Rising for the fourth straight day, the rupee strengthened by 7 paise to 66.90 against the US dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on Tuesday on sustained selling of the American currency by banks and exporters.

Forex dealers said besides continued selling of the greenback by banks and exporters, strong foreign fund inflows and a higher opening of the domestic equity market backed up the rupee.

The rupee had firmed up by 28 paise to close at three-week high of 66.97 in Monday's trade.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex rose by 100.12 points, or 0.37%, to 26,877.57 in early trade.