Rupee up 17 paise in early trade

The Indian rupee turned stronger after a brief break yesterday and was quoted higher at 48.25 against the greenback in early trade today on the back of bullish equity markets and dollar sales.

In fairly active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic currency resumed higher at 48.38/40 a dollar and later surged to 48.25 level before being quoted at 48.32/34 a dollar in late morning deals.

Forex dealers said exporters were seen selling American unit in early trade as dollar weakened in Asian trade this morning after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's cautious view about the US economy.

They said the rupee also drew support from a sharp rally in local stocks in early trade.

Indian benchmark Sensex was up 186 points in early trade on encouraging global cues. Asian indices too were trading in the green this morning.