Rupee rises on fund flows; down 1.8 percent in October

A grocery shop owner counts rupees notes in Ahmedabad May 23, 2012.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee rose on Wednesday, but snapped two successive months of gains to fall in October as the euphoria over economic reforms petered out and the RBI kept rates on hold, with global events expected to determine the currency's near-term direction.

Dealers are closely awaiting further developments in the euro zone as well as the Group of 20 nations' meeting over the weekend, where Europe and the United States will be pushed to tackle their debt woes.

Domestically, with key state elections coming up and the winter session of parliament starting later in November, any major reform moves look unlikely in the interim.

For the day, the rupee's gain was largely driven by custodial banks selling dollars on behalf of foreign institutional investors as well as gains in the euro.

Foreign funds have pumped in around $2 billion in equities in October even as the BSE Sensex saw its biggest percentage fall since May.

"The rupee is likely to remain rangebound in the next few sessions with global events likely to drive the currency's fortunes," said Naveen Raghuvanshi, associate vice-president at Development Credit Bank.

He expects the rupee to trade in a 53.50-54.30 band in the near term.

The partially convertible rupee ended at 53.80/81 per dollar, higher than its previous close of 53.96/97. It fell to a session low of 54.21, but found support at its 55-day moving average of 54.14. For October, the rupee has fallen 1.8 percent.

In the offshore non-deliverable forwards market, the one-month contract was at 54.08 while the three-month was at 54.62.

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 all closed at around 54.08 with a total traded volume at $4.3 bi l lion.

(Editing by Jijo Jacob)