RTRS: Indian rupee ends little changed; China PMI in focus
* Rupee ends at 60.8150/8250 per dollar vs 60.81/82 on Friday
* Asian FX weak due to caution before China manufacturing PMI
* Rupee seen in 60.50/61.50 range near term: trader
By Neha Dasgupta
MUMBAI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee ended little changed on Monday after gaining in each of the previous four sessions as investors turned more cautious a day before a preliminary survey on China's manufacturing sector.
Worries about the health of China's economy have been a major drag in emerging market assets over the past week, while uncertainty also remains about the U.S. Federal Reserve's near-zero interest rate policy.
Meanwhile, the rupee is also likely to remain range-bound ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's policy review on Sept. 30. Although the central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged, markets will focus on the tone of its statement.
"Rupee should be range-bound, given that we are seeing inflows and state-owned banks are buying (dollars) in the market," said Ashtosh Raina, head of foreign exchange trading at HDFC Bank.
Raina expects the rupee in a 60.50 to 61.50 range in the near term.
The partially convertible rupee ended at 60.8150/8250 per dollar, compared with its close of 60.81/82 on Friday.
Dollar sales by custodians were offset by greenback purchases by public sector banks, keeping the rupee in a range, according to traders.
Traders said foreign fund flows will also be a key for the rupee ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's policy review.
Foreign funds have bought debt and equity worth nearly $3.62 billion so far in September, as per regulatory data, bringing their total for the year to $33.65 billion.
In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month contract was at 61.13/18 while the three-month contract was at 61.66/76.
FACTORS TO WATCH * Dollar sits back after record-breaking run higher * Delicate china hits stocks, strong dlr hurts FX * China slowdown worries hit stocks, commodities * Foreign institutional investor flows * For data on currency futures
DIARIES & DATA: Indian Data Watch European diary Indian diary US Diary (Editing by Anand Basu)
