The rupee opened higher against the greenback on Wednesday, helped by a sluggish US dollar but caution remained ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy outcome on Thursday.

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According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, RBI is expected to cut the key repo rate by 25 basis points to boost growth. India's manufacturing growth fell to a six-month low in March due to weak demand.

At 09:10 AM, the rupee was trading at 68.56 a dollar, up 18 paise from its Tuesday’s close of 68.74. The home currency opened at 68.80 and touched a high and a low of 68.55 and 68.81 a dollar, respectively.

The Indian currency has been riding high on massive liquidity push in the form of strong foreign fund inflows in March. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital markets, putting in Rs 543.36 crore Tuesday, as per the provisional data.

Globally, the dollar edged lower after climbing a 3-1/2-week peak in the previous day. The greenback had reached that high as ebbing risk aversion in the broader markets pushed up long-term US yields from 15-month lows, reported Reuters.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was down 0.1 percent at 97.236.

In commodity markets, oil prices rose for a fourth day, holding firm despite an industry report showing that US inventories rose unexpectedly last week.

International Brent futures rose 22 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $69.59 a barrel by 0028 GMT, after earlier reaching $69.68, the highest since Nov. 13. The global benchmark closed half a percent higher on Tuesday.

In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds were down 1.06 percent to 7.27 percent from its previous close of 7.35 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.