Print | Close this window Indian rupee near 3-wk lows on dlr gains, stocks Mon Jun 15, 2009 10:26am IST * Rupee at lowest level since end-May * Dollar's rise versus majors weighs on rupee * Stock market down more than 1 pct, tracks regional peers (Updates to mid-morning) MUMBAI, June 15 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee dropped to three-week lows on Monday as the dollar's strength versus major currencies and a weaker stock market prompted investors to sell the local unit. At 10:05 a.m. (0435 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was trading at 47.87/88 per dollar, its weakest level since May 28 and 0.5 percent below its previous close of 47.61/62. "The rupee has weakened tracking the dollar's strength overseas," said Ashtosh Raina, head of foreign exchange trading at HDFC Bank in Mumbai. The dollar rose broadly on Monday as investors took profits on other major currencies which had climbed to multi-month highs on hopes for a recovery in the global economy. [USD/] An index gauging the U.S. unit's performance versus six majors .DXY, was up 0.4 percent. Indian shares .BSESN dropped more than 1 percent in early trading, tailing weak Asian peers, as investors paused for breath after a near 90 percent rally since early March. [.BO] Foreigners have since mid-March invested over $7.5 billion in local shares, a key factor for the rupee's 9.1 percent rally from 52.2 in early March. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts PNDF were quoted at 48.01/11, weaker than the onshore spot rate. "The bias for the dollar/rupee would be for test/break of 47.80 to have a closer look at 48.0, in preparation of shift into new short-term range of 47.30 to 48.30," J.Moses Harding, head of global markets at IndusInd Bank wrote in a daily note on Monday. (Reporting by Swati Bhat; Editing by Neil Fullick)

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