The rupee weakened on Wednesday, dropping from two and half month highs touched in the previous session, hurt by the dollar strentgh overseas as traders awaited the local stocks open for further cues.
* At 9:15 a.m. the partially convertible rupee was at 49.54/55 per dollar, weaker than its previous close of 49.29/30, which was its strongest since Feb. 17.
* Asian markets were mixed at 0335 GMT. The Hang Seng was up 0.8 percent, the Shanghai Composite was 1 percent higher while the Kospi was 0.3 percent lower. Nifty stock futures traded in Singapore were 0.6 percent higher, pointing to a firm start in the local market.
* Dealers said a stronger rupee in the offshore market had improved sentiment in the past two sessions. One month non-deliverable forward contracts traded in Singapore were quoting at 49.54/64, similar to he onshore spot rate.
* But the dollar's gains on Wednesday versus majors was seen limiting sharp gains for the rupee. The dollar index was up 0.2 percent.
