Rupee rises more on hopes of clear opposition victory

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The rupee extended gains on Tuesday as exit polls suggested pro-reform and business-friendly opposition parties had won elections, while the South Korean won rose on exporters' demand for settlements.

The Indian unit advanced as much as 0.8 percent to 59.59 per dollar as the benchmark BSE Sensex and the broader Nifty hit a record high for a third consecutive session.

The partially convertible currency later pared some of its gains as traders said the Reserve Bank of India was suspected of intervening to curb its strength.

Narendra Modi is set to become India's next prime minister, four major exit polls showed on Monday, with his Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies forecast to sweep to a parliamentary majority in the world's biggest-ever election.

The won gained on bids from exporters such as shipbuilders and as foreigners' demand lifted Seoul shares.

South Korea's foreign exchange authorities were suspected of intervening to stem the won's gains, even though their dollar bids became weaker in the afternoon, traders said.

Meanwhile, the Philippine peso fell as interbank speculators continued to take profits from the best performing emerging Asian currency of the last week.

The Philippine central bank governor earlier said it was ready to guard against excesses in the financial system such as a possible increase in investment flows after last week's credit rating upgrade from Standard & Poor's.

(Reporting by Jongwoo Cheon; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)