The rupee strengthened by 41 paise to 68.42 against the US dollar in early trade today, helped by revived sentiments following optimistic macroeconomic outlook.
Industrial output recorded a growth of 7 per cent in June on account of higher output in mining, manufacturing and power generation segments, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Friday.
Forex dealers said selling of the greenback by banks and exporters supported the rupee. However, dollar's strength against other currencies overseas and lower opening in the domestic equity markets capped the gains.
On Friday, the rupee had lost 15 paise to end at 68.83 against the resurgent dollar.
Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex fell 284.27 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 37,584.96 in opening trade today.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)