Rupee On the Rise

As was to be expected the Rupee is once more rising:

India's rupee rose to the highest in almost three weeks as companies including ICICI Bank Ltd., the country's largest lender by market value, said they'll bring money home by raising loans overseas.

The currency climbed the most in a week after ICICI signed an agreement to raise $1 billion in syndicated loans denominated in yen. An offer by Oracle Corp. to buy an additional stake in local software maker I-Flex Solutions Ltd. closes Dec. 23, which may help bring in capital from abroad.

A faster pace of growth in Asia's fourth-biggest economy, which averaged 9.1 percent in the first three quarters of the year compared with last year's 8.25 percent, is fueling investments and equity purchases by overseas funds.

The currency's gains were limited by concern refiners will step up their purchases of dollars to settle import bills due by the end of the month, said Vikas Babu, a currency trader at state-owned Andhra Bank in Mumbai.

The rupee's rise was also slowed by speculation some investors abroad will reduce their equity holdings to lock in gains after the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or Sensex, outperformed Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Markets Index this year.

The Sensex has added 42 percent compared with 26 percent gains in the Morgan Stanley index.

``We have several factors toward the end of the month that will add pressure on the rupee to weaken,'' Babu said. ``We have to watch what global funds do.''