The rupee rose on Wednesday on hopes for another US rate cut, which could attract foreign capital to India, but suspected central bank intervention limited the gains. The partially convertible rupee ended at 39.78/79 per dollar, stronger than Tuesday's close of 39.905/915. During early trade, the currency had hit 39.70, its strongest since February 18.
The rupee fell to a five-month low of 40.25 last week. "Today, we saw the rupee up on the back of the weak dollar," said a senior trader with a private bank. The dollar sank to a record low against major currencies on Wednesday, after a US Federal Reserve official on Tuesday suggested interest rates may soon be cut again to fend off a recession in the world's largest economy. "We didn't see any big inflows from foreign institutional investors today, but sentiment was up due to equities," the trader said.