Mumbai, Aug 13 (PTI) The rupee strengthened by 41 paise to 68.42 against the US dollar in early trade today, helped by revived sentiments following optimistic macroeconomic outlook.

Industrial output recorded a growth of 7 per cent in June on account of higher output in mining, manufacturing and power generation segments, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Friday.

Forex dealers said selling of the greenback by banks and exporters supported the rupee. However, dollar's strength against other currencies overseas and lower opening in the domestic equity markets capped the gains.

On Friday, the rupee had lost 15 paise to end at 68.83 against the resurgent dollar.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex fell 284.27 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 37,584.96 in opening trade today.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)