Rupee strengthened for a third day as foreign buyers continued to buy more of Indian equities damping risk aversion. The currency climbed to five-week high and local shares gained after U.S. home sales rebounded and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said there are “encouraging signs” a global financial crisis is easing. FIIs’ buying has increased in March after net sales in February. The rupee advanced 0.6% to 50.35 per dollar at 10:15 a.m. It earlier reached 50, the strongest since Feb. 25, and has rebounded more than 3% since reaching a record low of 52.1850 on March 3. The Sensex jumped 4.2% to 10,316.91, headed for its highest close in almost three months, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index surged 4.5%. Offshore contracts indicate traders bet the rupee will trade at 50.7 to the dollar in a month, compared with expectations of 51.01 yesterday. Forwards are the agreements in which assets are bought and sold at current prices for future delivery. Non-deliverable contracts are settled in dollars rather than rupee.

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