Mumbai: Rupee strengthened by 17 paise to 68.04 against the dollar in early trade at Interbank Foreign Exchange on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

Further, forex dealers said, weakness in the dollar against some other currencies overseas, supported the rupee. Moreover, a higher opening in the domestic equity market influenced the rupee uptrend, they added.

Yesterday, the rupee had tumbled by over 25 paise to close at 68.21 against the US dollar on renewed worries over fall in the country's economic growth coupled with concerns regarding quarterly earnings due from this week.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by 139.09 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 26,865.64 in early trade.