Monday, January 21, 2008

Rupee Eases On Concerns About Equity Outflows

MUMBAI: The rupee slipped in early deals on Monday on concerns that losses in Asian markets should prompt overseas investors to pare holdings in local assets, amid fears of a recession in the United States, dealers said.

At 9:15 am the partially convertible rupee was at 39.345/355 per dollar, slipping from the previous finish of 39.29/31. It struck a decade-high of 39.16 in November.

Shares fell for a fifth successive day as global gloom prevailed with Friday's drop of 3.5 per cent taking the market's losses for the week to 8.7 per cent, its biggest weekly slide since May 2006.

In 2007, foreign fund buying of a record $17.4 billion of stocks was a key driver for the rupee's rise of more than 12 percent. Foreigners sold about $1.1 billion worth of shares on Wednesday and Thursday, weighing on the local unit.

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