Indian rupee gains extended

March 31 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee extended gains in afternoon trade on Tuesday tracking the dollar's weakness against major currencies and a rise in the domestic sharemarket but dollar demand from importers capped a sharper rise.
* At 12:30 p.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 50.86/88 per dollar, off a high of 50.83 and higher than its Monday's close of 51.17/19.
* The dollar gained against the yen but retreated against other peers as safe haven bids eased for the time being. The dollar index .DXY, a gauge of the U.S. unit's performance against majors, was down 0.3 percent.
* Indian shares .BSESN were trading more than 1 percent higher on track to post its first quarterly rise since 2007, but investors were wary as the market seesawed through much of the morning. [.BO]
* Dealers said oil refiners and importers were seen buying dollars to meet month-end payments and stronger demand later in the session was likely to pressure the rupee lower.
* In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contract on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were quoting at 51.0325 and 51.0300 respectively, with the total traded volume on both exchanges at about $354 million. (Reporting by Swati Bhat; editing by Sunil Nair)

Source : in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINBOM41766620090331