The rupee edged up on Tuesday, helped by a pick-up in foreign fund inflows into local stocks, but dealers remained circumspect as the market awaits the dollar's reaction to a US Federal Reserve meeting. The rupee ended at 43.70/71 per dollar, a marginal 0.03 percent firmer than Monday's 43.7150/7250 close. "Inflows are fairly good and that had helped the rupee to appreciate initially to 43.66, but wariness ahead of the Fed meeting and the dollar's slight gains overseas pulled the rupee back a bit," a dealer at a state-run bank said.
In European trade, the dollar was slightly firmer against the yen and euro ahead of a Fed interest rate decision and amid waning expectations for a Chinese yuan revaluation.
Traders said the rupee would likely remain in a holding pattern on Wednesday until the Fed's announcement on Wednesday. Though the market has factored in a quarter-percentage-point rise, traders will look for signs the Fed may accelerate its campaign of "measured" monetary tightening.
"We should again see a 43.65 to 43.75 range tomorrow as no one is going to take any speculative positions ahead of the Fed's announcements," a dealer at another state-run bank said.