Mauritius’s rupee advanced for a second day versus the euro amid investor concern that slowing economic growth will worsen the sovereign-debt crisis in the eurozone, the island nation’s biggest trading partner. The rupee strengthened 0.7 percent to 39.6657 per euro as of 3:22 p.m. in Port Louis, the capital. The Mauritian currency gained 0.4 percent to 27.95 per dollar. The 17-nation European currency fell to the lowest level against the dollar since July 21 after reports on manufacturing yesterday suggested growth in the euro region is slowing. Italian bonds fell, sending the yield on its 10-year securities to the most since 1997 and pushing the additional yield investors demand to hold the debt instead of benchmark German bunds to euro era all-time highs. “Growing concerns about global recovery have emerged following a flurry of poor economic indicators, most notably from the U.S. and China,” Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd., the island nation’s biggest lender, said in a research note published on its website. Growth concerns drove the euro lower, the note said. Europe is the Indian Ocean island nation’s biggest buyer of exports and largest source of visitors, according to the Central Statistics Office. Mauritius’s 38-member SEMDEX index of stocks fell for the first day in three, shedding 0.1 percent to 2,032.54 by the 1:30 p.m close, led by Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) and Ireland Blyth Ltd. (IBL), which has interests in agriculture and retail. To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Brand in Cape Town at rbrand9@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

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