The Indian rupee fell on Thursday, erasing earlier gains, weighed by dollar demand from local oil refiners and on continued concerns over foreign portfolio flows. However, expectations for a rate cut from the Reserve Bank of India next week after much weaker-than-expected industrial output data bolstered stock markets, providing some support for the rupee, traders said.
The rupee ended at 51.5800/5850 to the dollar compared with Wednesday's close of 51.42/43. The one-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were at 51.99.
In the currency futures market, the most-traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, the MCX-SX and on the United Stock Exchange all ended around 51.7, on a total volume of $3.3 billion.