Mumbai: On Tuesday, the rupee strengthened by 15 paise to 68.81 against the US dollar in opening trade on fresh selling of the greenback by exporters. The weakening of the US dollar against some currencies overseas and a higher opening in domestic equity market, supported the local unit, a currency dealer said.

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At the Interbank forex market, the rupee opened higher at 68.88 and strengthened further to 68.81 against the US dollar, higher by 15 paise over its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee ended almost flat at 68.96 per US dollar as participants preferred to wait on the sidelines to see the outcome of RBI's first-ever rupee-dollar swap auction.

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To be noted that Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.09 per cent up at USD 67.27 per barrel. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by 77.38 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 37,886.29 in early trade on Tuesday. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought equities worth a net Rs 150.40 crore Monday, provisional data showed.