Mumbai: The rupee erased early gains to trade weaker on Monday afternoon as local shares turned negative and the euro fell sharply. At 2:39pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs. 44.3350/3400 per dollar, almost steady from Friday’s close of 44.3250/3350, but down from Monday’s high of Rs. 44.2550. Rupee had gained in early trades on back of positive domestic equities and strong dollar inflows. Shares fell 1% on Monday with Infosys Technologies leading the decline and as investors remain wary of further interest rate increases after a surge in March headline inflation. The euro fell on Monday to 10-day low against the dollar and its lowest in more than two weeks versus the yen on increased talk of a possible Greek debt restructuring and uncertainty over Portugal’s bailout. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was up 0.45% at 75.177 points. The index was 74.763 points at end of trade in local forex market Friday. The one-month onshore forward premium was at 26.25 basis points versus its previous close of 25.75. The three-month was at 83.50 basis points versus 82.75 and the one-year was at 318.75 basis points compared with 309. The one-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 44.62, weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market , the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, the MCX-SX and the United Stock Exchange were all at 44.4350, with total volume at $5.51 billion.

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