Higher opening in equity markets pushes rupee up 13 paise against dollar

The rupee advanced by 13 paise to 67.16 against the dollar in early trade on Friday on sustained selling of the US currency by banks and exporters.

Forex dealers said besides increased selling of the greenback by banks and exporters, a higher opening in the domestic equity market backed up the rupee at the Interbank Foreign Exchange.

However, the dollar's strength against other currencies overseas capped the rupee's gain, they added.

On Thursday, the rupee made a smart recovery against the US currency after a three-day straight fall and ended higher by 16 paise at 67.29 on fresh bouts of dollar selling by banks and exporters.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose 135.05 points, or 0.50%, to 26,978.19 in early trade on Thursday.