Indian rupee on Tuesday turned positive for 2019 against US dollar as foreign investors continued to buy in equities and debt ahead of general elections . At 9.15 am, the rupee was trading at 69.71 a dollar, up 0.24% from its previous close of 69.89. The home currency opened at 69.75 a dollar and touched a high of 69.69.

So far this year, rupee has gained 0.15%. Since the start of the March, foreign investors have bought Indian equities worth $833.26 million and debt worth $586 million respectively.

Year to date, foreign institutional investors have bought Indian equities worth $3.13 billion and sold $1 billion in debt market.

Traders will now watch consumer price inflation data for February to cement a growing possibility of a rate cut in the April monetary policy. CPI probably quickened to 2.4% year on year last month from 2.05% in January, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The 10-year bond yield was trading at 7.361%, as compared to its Monday's close of 7.35%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

India's benchmark index Sensex rose 0.53% to 37249.65 points in pre-open trade. Year to date, it rose 3%.

Asian currencies were trading higher. South Korean won was up 0.54%, Indonesian rupiah 0.28%, China Offshore 0.23%, China renminbi 0.22%, Malaysian ringgit 0.22%, Singapore dollar 0.15%. However, Philippines peso was down 0.22%, Japanese yen 0.14%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 97.033, down 0.19% from its previous close of 97.215.

(Bloomberg contributed this story)

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