The Indian rupee weakened on Friday as a sharp sell-off in domestic shares coupled with demand for the US unit to swap for euros after the single currency's global rally, weighed on the local unit. The partially convertible rupee closed at 45.37/38 per dollar, 0.3 percent weaker than its 45.24/25 close on Thursday, when it rose as much as 45.04 - its strongest since January 4. The rupee moved in a wide band of 45.1425 to 45.44.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 45.64, weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, MCX-SX and United Stock Exchange closed at 45.4650, 45.47 and 45.46 respectively, with the total traded volume on the three exchanges at an average $6.6 billion.