Rupee Down On Asian Peers, Oil Demand, Shares.

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee was weaker in early morning trades on Thursday tracking regional peers and as dollar demand from oil refiners and negative shares weighed.

* At 9:25 a.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 45.5450/5475, compared with its previous close of 45.4050/4150 per dollar.

* Traders expect the rupee to move in a 45.35-45.60 band intraday.

* Oil is India's largest import item and oil refiners are the biggest buyers of dollars in the local market.

* Indian shares turned negative after rising as much as 0.5 per cent in early trades on Thursday.

* New Delhi is estimated to owe around $4 billion to Tehran for its oil imports and local oil firms have been aggressively buying dollars to make these payments.

* Most Asian currencies were weaker against the dollar. For a snapshot, see :

* The euro was at $1.4404 in Asian trade. It was at $1.4482 at end of local forex trade on Wednesday, while the index of the dollar against six major currencies was at 73.875 points, compared with 73.620 points previously.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com