BLBG: India’s Rupee Gains on Speculation Funds Will Cut Stock Sales
By Anoop Agrawal
Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- India’s rupee rose for a third day, its best run in almost a month, on speculation gains in Asian stocks will encourage global funds to trim sales of local assets.
The rupee also climbed after the Economic Times reported Asia’s third-largest economy may unveil a 750 billion-rupee ($15 billion) plan by the end of this week to boost growth. Record sales of Indian stocks this year have made the rupee the third- worst performer among the 10 most actively-traded currencies in Asia excluding the yen.
“Investors are pricing in the fact that a lot of focus will be given to growth,” said P.V. Rao, a currency trader at IndusInd Bank Ltd. in Mumbai. “That should help the rupee to maintain its rising trend in the immediate future.”
The rupee advanced 0.3 percent to 49.88 per dollar as of 9:35 a.m. in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It may advance to 49.5 in a week, Rao said.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index rose as much as 0.8 percent today.
Indian stock sales by overseas investors exceeded purchases this year by $13.6 billion, data from the Securities & Exchange Board of India show.
To contact the reporters on this story: Anoop Agrawal in Mumbai at aagrawal8@bloomberg.net.