Rupee seen lower on overnight dollar rise

The rupee is seen opening lower on Thursday tracking overnight gains in the dollar versus major currencies, but positive Asian shares and expected gains in the domestic stock market are seen limiting a sharp fall.

* Almost all Asian currencies except the yen were weaker compared with the dollar.

* The dollar held steady against the yen on Thursday, clinging to gains made the previous day on short-covering as investors fretted that the U.S. Federal Reserve may not signal new stimulus for the economy this week.

* The index of the dollar against six major currencies was up 0.05 percent at 74.048 points at 0255 GMT in Asian trade, well above 73.734 points when the domestic forex market closed on Wednesday.

* The MSCI index of Asian stocks ex-Japan was 1.2 percent higher while the Nifty India stock futures traded in Singapore were also up 1 percent, suggesting a firm start to the domestic market.

* The partially convertible rupee ended at 45.99/46.00 per dollar on Wednesday, nearly 0.8 percent weaker from Tuesday's close of 45.625/635.

Traders expect a 45.85-46.15 band for the rupee during the day with month-end dollar demand from oil imports seen weighing.