India's rupee halted a three-day losing streak on speculation the central bank will seek gains in the currency to contain inflation.

The currency may climb from a 15-month low on speculation a stronger rupee will help temper import prices after crude oil advanced to a record on June 30. The rally in the commodity, which has almost doubled in the past 12 months, pushed inflation to a 13-year high and widened the trade deficit to a record. The rupee's 9 percent decline this year has also prompted overseas investors to dump local equities.

``It is only the central bank that can bring respite to the rupee,'' said V. Kumar, chief currency trader at state-owned State Bank of Travancore in Mumbai. ``The rupee will rebound on speculation it will have support from the central bank.''

The rupee was little changed at 43.3225 a dollar as of 10:30 a.m. in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Global funds sold $6.5 billion more Indian shares than they bought this year, more than a third of their record net purchases of $17.2 billion in 2007, data provided by the Securities & Exchange Board of India show. The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or Sensex, dropped to the lowest level since April 2007 yesterday.

The Reserve Bank of India raised its benchmark overnight lending rate twice last month, partly to bolster the rupee. It increased the repurchase rate by half a percentage point on June 24, the most since 2000, to 8.5 percent.

Wholesale prices rose 11.42 percent in the second week of June from a year earlier, the fastest pace since February 1995, the government said on June 27.