RTRS: Indian rupee at 1-mo high as stocks rally 4 pct
The Indian rupee rose to its highest in more than a month on Thursday after a surge in local stocks boosted hopes for foreign portfolio inflows, while the dollar's weakness abroad also helped.
At 10:35 a.m. (0505 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 50.32/33 per dollar, 0.8 percent stronger than Tuesday's close of 50.71/72. The currency market was shut on Wednesday for annual book closure of banks.
The rupee rose as much as 50 in early deals, its highest since Feb. 25.
"The equity market gains are over-riding everything else," a senior dealer with a foreign bank said. "The rupee is likely to trade in a 50.20 to 50.70 band in this session."
The main stock index .BSESN rose more than 4 percent early, extending gains for a third day, after positive U.S. data fuelled hopes the global economy was on the mend. [.BO]
A rising stock market could help reverse the trend of capital outflows and boost the local unit. So far in 2009, foreigners have dumped a net $1.7 billion worth of Indian shares, on top of net sales of over $13 billion last year.
The dollar index .DXY, a gauge of the U.S. unit's performance against six majors, was down 0.13 percent.
