Mumbai: The rupee strengthened by 15 paise to 61.65 against the US dollar in early trade Tuesday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the American currency by exporters ahead of RBI's policy review.

Dealers said increased selling of the dollar by exporters and a higher opening in the domestic equity market supported the rupee but the greenback's rise against some overseas currencies capped the gains.

The rupee had gained six paise to close at 61.80 against the American currency in yesterday's trade on fag-end selling pressure from banks and exporters due to a weak dollar in the overseas markets.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by 130.79 points, or 0.44 percent, to 29,253.06 in early trade.--PTI