The rupee gained 22 paise to 60.97 against the dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on increased selling of the US currency by exporters amid a higher opening in the domestic equity market. Besides, the WPI inflation that eased to a nine-month low in February, raising expectations that the RBI would leave interest rates unchanged at its policy review next month, supported the rupee, forex dealers said.

In volatile trade, the rupee had shed two paise to close at 61.19 in the previous session on Friday. Forex and Money markets remained closed yesterday for 'Holi' festival.

Dealers say that the rupee would continue to remain rangebound and would now look for policy action from the US Federal Reserve in the coming week. The two-day meeting is likely to end on March 19 with a further QE3 tapering of $10 billion.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose166 points, while the Nifty rose 57 points in trade. Check currency rates here