Rupee firms up 18 paise to 63.47 Vs USD

Mumbai: Rising for the third straight day, the rupee strengthened by 18 paise to 63.47 against the US dollar in early trade Friday on continued selling of the American currency by banks and exporters.

Forex dealers said that besides the sustained selling, dollar's weakness against other currencies overseas, coupled with a higher opening in the domestic equity market, propped up the rupee at the Interbank Foreign Exchange.

The local currency had surged 35 paise to 63.65 against the dollar in yesterday's trade.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by 173.51 points, or 0.63 percent, to 27,379.57 in early trade.