Indian Rupee hits three-month high as oil falls

Bloomberg (Published: August 06, 2008, 21:20)
Mumbai: The Indian rupee rose to the highest level in almost three months as a drop in crude oil prices reduced demand for dollars from refiners.
The rupee was the second-best performer among the 10 most-traded currencies in Asia outside Japan as oil traded near the lowest level in three months in New York. The local currency also advanced on speculation gains in local stocks will encourage overseas investors to increase their holdings of the nation's assets.
"It's a big relief for refiners as they weren't expecting oil prices to slide this way in less than a month from their peak," said Ravindra Babu, a currency trader at state-owned Andhra Bank in Mumbai. "Investors are now pricing further gains in the rupee on expectations that oil will fall more.''