Rupee edges up, still stuck in range-bound trading

By Gaurav Pai

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee closed marginally stronger on Wednesday, continuing a pattern of range-bound trading as solid foreign inflows into debt and stocks were offset by month-end dollar demand from importers.

Foreign institutional investors have been net buyers of shares and debt for nine consecutive sessions as of Monday, including nearly $500 million on Friday alone, the largest single-day amount since June 9.

Traders are now awaiting the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve policy review and U.S. economic growth data later in the day, at a time when the dollar index is trading at six-month highs while the euro is at its lowest since November.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India is due to hold its policy review on Tuesday, although traders widely expect interest rates to remain on hold.

"We do not see the Fed or the RBI announcing anything unexpected that could alter the near-term outlook for the rupee," said Uday Bhatt, a senior manager with state-run UCO Bank.

The partially convertible rupee closed at 60.06/07 per dollar, compared with 60.1250/1350 on Wednesday.

The Nifty rose 0.55 percent, snapping two days of falls, as some blue-chips rose after their earnings beat estimates.

But strong buying in shares and debt was offset by dollar demand from importers to meet month-end commitments, which is likely to persist through most of this week.

In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month was at 60.32/42, while the three-month was at 60.80/90.

FACTORS TO WATCH

* The greenback trades at a six-month high [EMRG/FRX]

* Euro touches fresh eight-month low vs dollar [FRX/]

* MSCI Asia climbs to 6-1/2 year high [MKTS/GLOB]

* Foreign institutional investor flows

* For data on currency futures

DIARIES & DATA:

Indian Data Watch [ECONIN] European diary [WEU/EQTY2]

Indian diary [IN/DIARY] US Diary [US/DIARY]

(Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)