The Indian rupee declined for the second day to end at two-week lows on Wednesday on persistent importer dollar demand, weak shares and broad dollar strength. The partially convertible rupee ended at 45.33/34 per dollar, after hitting 45.33, its weakest since December 21 and below its close of 44.98/99 on Tuesday. Dealers expect the rupee to move in 44.90-45.50 band rest of the week.
One-year onshore forward premium closed at 245.75 points, lower than Tuesday's close of 255.25 points. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 45.59, weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, and MCX-SX closed at 45.5225 and 45.5200 respectively, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at $6.6 billion.