New Delhi: The rupee is gaining strength day by day. The currency appreciated further hitting a high of 39.85 against a weakening dollar on the back of fresh capital inflows and weakness in dollar overseas.

The strong rupee brings good news for imported products like electronics and for people travelling abroad. But the IT sector and exports have been bearing the brunt.

A strong rupee brings with it a lot of advantages, especially, if you are planning a holiday abroad. Travel agents say that a 4 day trip to South East Asian countries like Singapore or Malaysia could get cheaper by Rs 5,000 to Rs 7000.

"Foreign tourism is booming. And with rupee rising it will turn cheaper," says Veena Patil-Chairman and managing director, Kesari Tours.

The rupee is at its strongest against the dollar in about nine-years. Experts are betting on the rupee becoming even stronger in the coming months.

Anup Maheshwari, Senior Fund Manager, DSP Merrill Lynch says, "The long term trend shows that the rupee will appreciate further. Right from 1992-2002 it depreciated against the dollar by about 5 per cent per annum. Since 2002 that trend has flipped over and we expect a 5 per cent appreciation scenario to happen on a per annum basis in the next couple of years."

The rising rupee is also good news for the stock markets. If the rupee continues to gain against the dollar, foreign institutional investors or FIIs will find investing in India even more attractive as their dollar returns will rise even with steady rupee returns.