which raised concerns foreign funds would continue to repatriate funds. At 10:20 am, the partially convertible rupee was at 45.50/51 per dollar, after hitting 45.50, its lowest since December 20 and 0.3 per cent below its close of 45.37/38 on Friday."The rupee is continuing with its downward trend as there is no positive news coming. Near-term is bearish and nothing much is expected in the medium term; it is likely to be ranged," said Ashtosh Raina, head of foreign exchange trading at HDFC Bank.
He forecast the rupee in a band of 45.40-45.60 during the day.
Traders said the euro's drop from its highs was also affecting rupee sentiment.
The euro hovered below a one-month high on Monday, with market players saying clearer signs of progress on the euro zone's safety net for sovereign debt are necessary for the currency to make significant gains.
The dollar index against six major currencies was up 0.1 per cent at 79.238 points. Most Asian currencies too were weaker compared to the dollar.
"Shares will be watched for direction. Sentiment for capital inflows is not too good and that can impact the rupee majorly. If outflows from shares continue, rupee can breach 46 this week," said a senior dealer with a large state-run bank.
The main stock index was trading down 0.1 per cent after having risen over 0.4 per cent earlier, with shares in Anil Ambani group companies falling after two group firms agreed with the market regulator to investment curbs.
Foreign institutional investors are net sellers of $545 million worth of shares this year until Thursday, pushing the rupee down 1.7 per cent in 2011. In 2010, record inflows of $29.3 billion had helped the rupee gain 4.1 per cent.
Dealers said trading was expected to be rangebound due to the United States being shut for the Martin Luther King holiday.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 45.83, weaker than the onshore spot rate.
In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, the MCX-SX and the United Stock Exchange were all at 45.5925, with the total traded volume on the three exchanges at about $1.2 billion.
