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

Forex dealers said weakening of dollar against other 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 equities also supported the upmove.

Yesterday, the rupee had ended marginally higher by 2 paise at 65.02 a dollar due to 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.