India's Rupee Slides to Six-Year Low on Capital Outflow Concern

India's rupee fell to the lowest level in 6 years on speculation a rout in global equities well encourage investors to take more money out of the nation.

The currency dropped for a fourth day, joining decline in all the Asian's 10 most active currencies. India's benchmark share index fell 7.3%.

The rupees market is concerned over the large amount of foreign investments that are being pulled out of india as well as elsewhere, "said Nizam Idris, a foreign exchange strategist at UBS AG in singapore.

The rupee fell 1.4% to 48.63 versus the dollar as of 11:41 a.m in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, the weakest level since August 2002. The rupee may decline to 49 before year-end, Idris said.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index has fallen more than 46% this year, almost wiping out all of 2007's gains. Funds based abroad sold $9.8 billion more Indian shares than they bought this year, accouding to the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

By, Anil Varma, Bloomberg