The Indian rupee reversed intraday losses on Wednesday and inched towards its early high on robust dollar inflows into local debt, while the persistent debt crisis in Europe kept the euro and global stocks under pressure.
At 3:00 p.m. (0930 GMT), the rupee was at 51.62/63 to the dollar, up from Tuesday's close of 51.70/71. The unit has so far moved in wide band of 51.53 to 51.90.
Traders said the rupee found support from the government's decision to liberalise the single-brand retail sector as it is expected to boost dollar inflows.
Foreign fund interest in local debt has risen as investors look to profit from high interest rates, which are likely to fall soon as policy makers try to boost faltering growth. For related stories on debt limits see and
Net inflows into Indian debt so far in January stood at about $1.65 billion as of Tuesday, compared with about $213 million for equities, according to the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
Germany showed the first signs of feeling the pain from the euro zone's debt crisis as the economy shrank in the last three months of 2011.
