The rupee breached the key 53-level by gaining 26 paise to trade at fresh three-and-a-half-month high of 52.93 in early trade on Monday against the dollar on sustained selling of the American currency by exporters amid continued capital inflows.
Besides, a higher opening in the domestic equity market supported the rupee but yen's weakness against the dollar overseas capped the rupee's gains, dealers said.
The rupee strengthened by 3 paise to end at a three-and-a-half-month high of 53.19 in the previous session on Friday against the US currency on sustained dollar selling amid continued capital inflows.
Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark index Sensex recovered by 121.41 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 19,902.60 in early trade on Monday.
