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Monday August 31, 09:20 AM
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Rupee seen weaker as Asian stocks drop
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee is expected to weaken on Monday, tailing lower Asian stocks that could weigh down local bourses and hurt foreign portfolio inflows.
* At 8:26 a.m. (0256 GMT), Nifty (^NSEI : 4941.75 -63.8
) India stock futures traded in Singapore were down 1 percent. The Morgan Stanley index excluding Japan was down 1.3 percent.
* One-month offshore non-deliverable forward rupee contracts traded in Singapore were quoted at 48.71/48.81 per dollar, weaker than the spot close in India on Friday.
* The index of the dollar versus six majors was down 0.1 percent.
* Crude futures were trading at $72.5 a barrel. Oil prices slipped 1.6 percent last week but are on track to chalk up gains of 5.2 percent this month, as a raft of upbeat economic data across the globe helped offset figures showing high levels of U.S. oil inventories.
* Foreign funds have bought a net $7.8 billion of shares in 2009, helping the rupee gain from a record low of 52.2 in early March. Last year, net outflows of more than $13 billion had pushed the rupee down more than 19 percent.
* The partially convertible rupee closed at 48.65/66 per dollar on Friday, half a percent stronger than Thursday's close of 48.91/92. It had dropped to 49.05 during trade on Thursday, its weakest since July 13.
