Rupee falls sharply as RBI's hawkish tone hurts

The rupee falls to 54.02/03 versus its close of 53.81/82 on Thursday, following hawkish comments by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its macro-report released late on Thursday.

The RBI warned of "very limited" space for further easing of monetary policy, striking a hawkish tone a day before it is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points for the third time this year.

Asian currencies trading mixed versus the dollar.

Shares down 0.1 percent in pre-open trade. Domestic stock performance will be watched for direction until the policy decision at 0530 GMT.

Asian shares rise after an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank adds to hopes that more stimulus from yet another major central bank will help shore up the global economic recovery.