Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- India's rupee declined the most in a week as Asian stock losses added to speculation investors are paring holdings of riskier emerging-market assets amid a deepening global economic slump.
The currency dropped for the first time in three days as data from the capital markets regulator showed overseas funds last week sold<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=FIINNET%24%3AIND>Indian equities worth $481.6 million more than they bought, the most since the five-day period ended Nov. 21. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=MXAP%3AIND>dropped 2.5 percent after Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=RBS%3ALN>forecast the biggest loss in U.K. corporate history. "The rupee is likely to weaken as risk aversion appears to be on the rise again across markets," said Ravindra Babu<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Ravindra+Babu&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1>, a foreign-exchange trader at state-owned Andhra Bank in Mumbai. "Regional stocks and currencies are down and the dollar is in demand because the RBS forecast has undermined investor sentiment." The rupee slid 0.8 percent to 49.0375 per dollar as of 10:06 a.m. in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=SENSEX%3AIND>, or Sensex, dropped 2.6 percent, extending this month's loss to 5.8 percent. RBS said yesterday it may post a loss of as much as 28 billion pounds ($40 billion) for 2008. The loss would eclipse Vodafone Group Plc's 22 billion-pound net loss in 2006. Non-deliverable forward contracts showed traders increased bets for further weakness in the Indian rupee. Offshore contracts indicate the rupee may trade at 49.22 to the dollar in a month, compared with expectations for 48.86 yesterday. Forwards are agreements in which assets are bought and sold at current prices for future delivery. Indian rupee forwards traded overseas are non-deliverable, meaning they are settled in dollars rather than the local currency. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aUxeGZPJR3ok&refer=india --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
