Rupee ends lower as shares slump, caution grows

By Gaurav Pai

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee fell the most among emerging market peers on Tuesday as shares slumped after weak global manufacturing surveys raised growth concerns, while month-end dollar demand from importers also hurt sentiment for the local unit.

Surveys showed French business activity contracted in September, while Germany's manufacturing sector expanded at its slowest pace since June 2013.

Meanwhile, a private survey showed China's factory activity edging up in September, though unemployment fell to a 5-1/2-year low.

Traders are also bracing for volatility ahead of the policy review by the Reserve Bank of India on Sept. 30 and the end of the first half of the financial year the same day.

"The rupee should remain in a 60.50 to 61.10 range in the coming days," said Chintan Karnani, chief analyst at Insignia Consultants, a currency risk advisory firm in New Delhi.

The partially convertible rupee ended at 60.94/95 per dollar, compared with its close of 60.8150/8250 on Monday.

The rupee was also hurt as importers sought to meet their month-end dollar needs, while the Nifty posted its biggest single-day fall in about two-and-a-half months as blue-chips tracked weaker global shares.

In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month contract was at 61.23/33, while the three-month contract was at 61.81/91.

(Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)