Mumbai: The rupee strengthened by 11 paise to 64.91 against the dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.    

Forex dealers said weakness in the dollar against a few currencies overseas as attention turned to who would be the next head of the US central bank, gave some support to the rupee.  

Early gains in domestic stocks influenced the rupee uptrend, they added. Yesterday, the rupee had ended marginally higher by 2 paise at 65.02 a dollar on fresh selling of the American currency by banks and exporters coupled with firm local equities.  

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose 156.24 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 32,662.96 in early trade. PTI