Rupee down 22 paise against USD in early trade

The Indian rupee depreciated 22 paise against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, snapping its six-session upward journey, on expectations of fresh capital outflow by foreign funds as domestic bourses may open in the negative zone, in line with other Asian markets.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local unit, which had gained nearly 4.9 per cent during the last week, turned weak and fell 22 paise to 47.32 a dollar.


On Friday, the domestic currency had ended 27 paise higher at 47.10/12 against the greenback.


Forex dealers said the benchmark Sensex is likely to open on a weak note in line with other Asian markets, which are down up to 1.5 per cent, leading to capital outflow by foreign funds.


Month-end dollar demand also put pressure on the rupee, they added.

Oil holds above USD 60 in Asia

Oil held above USD 60 a barrel in Asian trade on Monday ahead of a meeting this week of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, was down 33 cents to USD 61.34 a barrel in morning trade.


Brent North Sea crude for July delivery retreated 23 cents to USD 60.55.


Prices eased as investors cashed in on profits ahead of the OPEC meeting on Thursday.


"Traders are taking profit from the markets," said Mark Pervan, a senior commodities analyst with ANZ Bank in Melbourne.


"It's probably a view that there is less likelihood of an output cut. OPEC has been fairly quiet on cutbacks so far," he said.


Algerian oil Minister Chakib Khelil was quoted by Newswires as saying that he expected oil prices to hit USD 70 dollars a barrel next year.



Oil at USD 70 a barrel is widely seen as the sustainable level for producers to resume large efforts to search for oil and gas.


The global economic crisis which towards the end of 2008 has seen energy demand plummets, dragging prices along with it.


Oil prices have fell from a record around USD 147 per barrel in July to about USD 32 in December as demand dropped off but have since risen gradually.

Shares rebound after test shock

Shares in South Korea suffered sharp falls following news of North Korea's nuclear test, before recovering.

South Korea's Kospi index fell as much as 6%, before rebounding strongly to end just 2.85 points lower at 1400.90.

There was little impact elsewhere in the region, with Tokyo's Nikkei index closing up 1.3% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closing up 0.35%.

European markets opened lower, while the UK and the US markets are closed for a public holiday.

At 1000 BST France's Cac 40 index was less than 1% down at 3198.66 points. In Frankfurt the Dax was 1.2% lower at 4858.16.