The Indian rupee added slight gains on Monday, 28 November 2011 although the currency continues to hover near the Rs. 52 per dollar mark. The domestic unit opened higher by 16 paise at 52.06, trailing a higher euro as risk appetite improved on hopes funding woes for euro zone economies would ease soon. Rupee registered an intraday low of 52.13 during initial trades and a high of 51.94 so far during the day. Gains in local equities also aided rupee. However, reported demand from local oil refiners, the biggest purchasers of the greenback, for month-end payments could arrest the rupee's rise. In the spot currency market, the Indian unit was last seen trading at 51.96, up around 27 paise or 0.51% as compared to previous close at 52.22. The European unit that was battered all this while improved in early Asia today supported by a weekend report which noted that IMF may provide EUR 600 bln worth of loan to Italy to support the nation contain its debt woes. The euro tumbled to its early October lows to as much as 1.3211 on Friday as Moody's lowered Hungary's credit rating from “Baa3� to “Ba1�. This was later on followed by news that S&P has downgraded Belgium's credit rating from “AA+� to “AA�. The single common currency managed to rise to around 1.3334 today and is currently quoting at 1.3293 versus the US dollar. The US Dollar Index, which measures the performance of the U.S. unit against a basket of six currencies, is down 0.43%, at around 79.34 levels. Among Asian currencies, the Taiwan dollar is up 0.05% at 30.42, the South Korean won added 0.97% at 1152.85 while the Indonesian Rupiah fell 0.75% at 9125.00 as against the US dollar. Key benchmark indices extended initial gains to hit fresh intraday highs in morning trade on firm Asian stocks. The barometer index, BSE Sensex, was now marginally below the psychological 16,000 mark, after crossing that mark for a brief period in morning trade. Asian shares jumped on Monday, 28 November 2011, as investors reacted to reports of European and international measures to get a grip on euro-zone debt crisis. At the time of writing, India's key benchmark BSE Sensex is up 347 points at around 16042 while S&P CNX Nifty is higher by almost 100 points at around 4809. In the domestic currency futures market on the NSE, the front month November 28, 2011 contract, due for expiry today, opened at 52.08, higher than spot market rupee. The contract hit an intraday high at 52.15 and registered a low at around 51.96 so far during the day. At the time of writing, the NSE as well as MCX November 2011 USD/INR contract was trading at around 51.99, lower by around 32 paise or 0.62% as compared to previous close at 52.31.

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