INDIA RUPEE — Renewed policy support lifts rupee from record — low brink to best week since March

(Updates for market open, add graphic) By Jaspreet Kalra MUMBAI, Oct 16 (Reuters) — The Indian rupee extended its rally to a fifth session on Friday and was headed for its steepest weekly gain in seven months on the central bank's measures to support the beleaguered Asian currency. Regulatory curbs to rein in dollar demand, alongside market and verbal intervention, came to the rupee's rescue this week, lifting it about 2% to 94.88 per dollar by 11 a.m. IST and putting it on track for its best performance since late March, when the regulator cracked down on bloated arbitrage trades. Last week, the rupee had threatened to fall past its record low of 96.96 as elevated oil prices, persistent foreign portfolio outflows and a surge in demand for hedging against further weakness battered markets. From Saturday, policymakers moved in by redirecting oil dollar demand away from the market, raising the cost of buying protection against a weaker rupee and nudging mutual funds to suspend bulk subscriptions to gold exchange-traded funds. Reserve Bank of India chief Sanjay Malhotra said in a media interview that the central bank was prepared to take further measures to ensure orderly conditions i