Indian rupee rises to 1-mth peak; share gains boost

The Indian rupee rose to its higest in more than a month today afternoon as gains in domestic shares boosted capital inflow hopes while the dollar's weakness against major currencies also underpinned sentiment.

The Indian rupee rose to its higest in more than a month on Wednesday afternoon as gains in domestic shares boosted capital inflow hopes while the dollar's weakness against major currencies also underpinned sentiment.

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At 2:40 pm, the partially convertible rupee was at 48.25/26 per dollar, its highest since Aug. 14 and above its previous close of 48.65/66.

Shares rose more than 1 percent, helped by a rise in global markets and as higher advance tax data bolstered hopes for stronger quarterly corporate earnings.

Foreigners have bought shares worth $8.9 billion so far in 2009, after having sold more than a net $13 billion last year.

The dollar index, a gauge of the US unit's performance versus six majors, was down 0.4 percent. Asian units too were trading stronger.

In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both quoting at 48.4375 each, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $552 million.