Rupee down more as oil, weak local shares weigh

The rupee fell further on Thursday given the surging crude oil prices and persistent weakness in domestic shares, a factor, traders said, would be closely eyed for cues on the local unit's intraday movement.

* At 1:37 pm, the partially convertible rupee was at 45.46/47 per dollar, weaker than Wednesday's close of 45.12/13. * Indian shares extended losses to 2% on Thursday afternoon, joining the slide in world markets, as investors were nervous due to the unrest in Libya and contagion fears. * London Brent crude futures rose above USD 114 a barrel on Thursday to a 28-month high, driven by mounting fears of supply disruptions by spillover of unrest in Libya. * Oil is India's biggest import and state-run oil refiners are the largest buyers of the dollar in the domestic currency market. * Dealers said the recovery in the US dollar overseas could also influence the rupee's movement later in the day. * The index of the dollar against six major currencies was up 0.03% at 77.446 points, after touching a low of 77.144 points. * The Swiss franc hit a lifetime high against the dollar on Thursday, extending broad gains as political turmoil in Libya increased risk aversion, prompting investors to pick up the safe-haven Swiss currency. * The one-month onshore forward premiums were quoted at 26.00 points, against Wednesday's 23.00, and the one-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 45.71, 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 45.7100, with the total traded volume at about USD 4.31 billion.