Rupee may resume its winning ways in 2019 as Santa rally brings good news

Cheaper oil and a central bank that's boosting the amount of money it's adding to the economy have driven gains in Indian assets this week

Tumbling oil prices have delivered an early Christmas present to India’s currency market, with the rally that’s put the rupee on course for its best quarter since March 2017 seen extending into the new year.

That’s the message from strategists coming off a largely painful 2018, as elevated energy costs and a strong dollar combined to make the rupee Asia’s worst performer. The slump in crude and hopes of a slowdown in the pace of tightening by the Federal Reserve mean the high-yielding currency may resume its winning ways next year, strategists say.

“We expect the rupee to be a