The rupee firmed by 13 paise to 66.53 against the dollar in early trade on Thursday on increased selling of the greenback by exporters and banks.
Forex dealers said weakness in the dollar against some other currencies overseas, after the U.S. Federal Reserve reaffirmed the outlook for more rate hikes this year, supported the rupee.
The Fed kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.5% to 1.75% last night, but noted that inflation was nearing its 2% target rate after years of remaining undesirably low.
The U.S. central bank is gradually tightening credit to control inflation against the backdrop of a tight job market, a resilient economy and a pickup in consumer prices.
The rupee on Wednesday virtually ended steady at 66.66 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose 80.89 points, or 0.22%, to 35,257.31 in opening trade on Thursday.
