By Anoop Agrawal Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- India’s rupee rose for a third day, its best run in three weeks, on speculation gains in Asian stocks will encourage global funds to cut sales of local assets. The currency, which last week reached a record low against the dollar, strengthened after the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index of regional shares jumped 4.1 percent yesterday, the most since Nov. 5. The rupee is the third-biggest loser in Asia excluding Japan this year as sales of local equities by international investors have exceeded purchases by a record amount. “Investors are speculating the global financial crisis is nearing an end and some stability will return to the financial markets soon,” said Ravindra Babu, a foreign-exchange trader at state-owned Andhra Bank in Mumbai. “The rupee will continue its rising streak in the near term.” The rupee gained 0.3 percent to 49.835 per dollar as of 9:25 a.m. in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency, which reached an all-time low of 50.59 on Nov. 20, may rise to 49.5 this week, Babu said. Funds based abroad sold $13.6 billion more Indian stocks than they bought this year, according to data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The MSCI Asia index was little changed as of 9:38 a.m. in Mumbai. To contact the reporter on this story: Anoop Agrawal in Mumbai at aagrawal8@bloomberg.net.

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