Rupee depreciates to 49.72 against dollar

The Indian rupee weakened on Wednesday, pressured lower by outflow concerns from the stock market following weak regional indices.

At 9:22 am, the partially convertible rupee was at 49.72/73 per dollar, weaker than Tuesday's close of 49.67/68.

One-month offshore non-deliverable forwards were quoting at 49.96/50.06, weaker than the onshore spot rate.

Japan's Nikkei stock index fell 1.2 per cent by 0353 GMT to a nearly three-month low, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 1.4 per cent. Nifty (^NSEI : 4941.75 -63.8) stock futures were trading down 1.3 per cent, indicating a lower opening in India.

The euro hit a fresh 2- month low against the dollar on Wednesday after warnings from ratings agencies fuelled fear that a deep recession in Eastern Europe would cause more damage to European banks.

India's central bank sold $318 million in intervention in December, sharply lower than $3.1 billion it sold in November, as the rupee pulled back from a slide, the central bank's February bulletin showed.