RTRS: Rupee drops on weak Asian peers; shares eyed
(Reuters) - The rupee erased an early rise to four-week highs and fell on Tuesday, tracking weak Asian currencies and a broadly strong dollar overseas.
At 10:30 a.m. (0500 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 46.65/66 per dollar, after touching 46.45 at open, its strongest since Aug. 11. It had closed at 46.53/54 on Monday.
"The rupee opened stronger tracking domestic shares but all Asians currencies are lower as also is the euro, so rupee too fell. It should trade in a range of 46.50 to 46.75 today," a senior dealer with a private bank said.
The index of the dollar against six major currencies was up 0.4 percent.
The euro slid on Tuesday from a three-week peak against the dollar hit the previous day, as rekindled worries about the European banking sector prompted investors to cut risks.
Indian shares were trading 0.3 percent higher, with financials leading the rise, extending the previous session's rally.
Foreign funds have bought shares worth $13.1 billion so far in 2010, in addition to last year's record $17.5 billion buying.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 46.87, weaker than the onshore spot rate.
In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both at 46.80, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $720 million.
(Reporting by Swati Bhat; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)
