Indian rupee may drop for 2nd day, shares watched

MUMBAI, April 28 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is expected to ease for a second consecutive day on Tuesday due to month-end demand for dollars from oil refiners, and traders will be looking to the stock market for direction.

* The partially convertible rupee INR=IN ended at 50.23/25 per dollar on Monday, off an intraday low of 50.31, and about 0.8 percent weaker than Friday's close of 49.81/82.

* One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts PNDF were quoting at 50.40/50, weaker than the onshore spot rate.

* Nifty stock futures in Singapore SINc1 were down 0.4 percent, indicating a subdued opening in India. Rising equities had helped lift the rupee to a two-month high of 49.34 in mid-April.

* Foreign funds have bought more than $1 billion of local equities in April, trimming net outflows to below $300 million in 2009. Traders will be watching if the inflow slows as stocks consolidate after a seven-week rally.

* The yen climbed to a seven-week peak against the euro and a one-month high versus the dollar on Tuesday as concerns about a swine flu outbreak prompted investors to cut their bets on riskier currencies. [FRX/] (Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)