The Indian rupee on Monday strengthened by 38 paise against the US dollar in early trade on hopes that stocks may open notably higher after government’s second booster package for the somnolent economy and cut in key interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India on Friday. Surging Asian markets, too, supported the Indian rupee. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency traded higher at 48.20 against the greenback, a rise of 38 paise over the previous close of 48.58/60 a dollar. The rupee had gained 18 paise at 48.58/60 in the previous trading session. Forex dealers said increased capital inflow by foreign funds in anticipation of rally on the domestic stock markets, after the government announced a slew of measures in its second stimulus package and the RBI cut key interest rates to revive the sagging economy, and firming trends in other Asian markets also supported the Indian rupee. Meanwhile, Bombay Stocks Exchange Sensex closed 54.76 points higher at 10,070.28 points on Friday, while Hong Hong’s Hang Seng index was up 2.40 percent and Japan’s Nikkei rose over 2 percent in early trade today.

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