The Indian rupee weakened on Thursday and posted its biggest quarterly decline in three years, pummelled by European debt crisis-triggered risk aversion, but further fall may be limited on signs the region's policymakers are on course to resolve eurozone's woes. The rupee ended at 48.97/98, weaker from its previous close of 48.75/76, but off its intraday low of 49.15.
The partially convertible rupee has lost 8.8 percent against the dollar during the September-quarter, its largest quarterly fall since the same period in 2008, Thomson Reuters data showed. It also remains the worst performer among major Asian peers, losing nearly 9 percent against the greenback.
The one-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 49.27, weaker-than-the spot rate indicating a bearish medium-term outlook. The one-month onshore forward premium was at 21.75 points from 22 on Wednesday, the three-month was at 62 points from 65 and the one-year was at 125 points from 133.25. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange and the United Stock Exchange both ended at 49.1625 while on the MCX-SX it ended at 49.1650. The total traded volume on the three exchanges was $5.57 billion.