MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee was weaker for a second straight session on Wednesday weighed by dollar demand from oil firms and other companies.
* At 9:18 a.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 49.42/44 per dollar versus Tuesday's close of 49.335/345, when it weakened 0.7 percent, making it the largest single-session drop since Sept. 22.
* Traders said dollar demand from domestic oil companies for import payments will impact rupee direction during the day.
* The euro was trading at $1.3612, compared with $1.3611 when the rupee closed on Tuesday. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was at 77.781 points versus 77.739 points on Tuesday.
* The euro struggled to make much headway early in Asia after the Slovak parliament rejected a plan to expand the euro zone rescue fund, crucial to containing Europe's spreading debt crisis.
* Traders will also watch the impact of industrial production data on stocks for direction. The data is due at 11 a.m. (0530 GMT).
* Industrial output probably grew 5.0 percent in August from a year earlier, on a favourable statistical base effect, despite successive interest rate rises slackening the pace of growth, a Reuters poll showed.
