MUMBAI, March 9 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee was little changed on Tuesday afternoon closely tracking the seesawing domestic sharemarket, but the bias was on the weaker side after the sharp gains seen in recent sessions.
* At 1:30 p.m., the partially convertible rupee INR=IN was at 45.54/55 per dollar, marginally weaker than 45.53/54 at close on Monday, when it hit 45.38 during trade, its strongest since Jan. 12.
* The rupee gained 1.1 percent last week, its best since a 1.9-percent rise in the week to Jan. 8.
* The Malaysian ringgit fell on Tuesday as investors took profits from its recent rally, while the Chinese yuan eased in offshore markets in line with movements in the euro and regional stocks. [EMRG/FRX]
* The index of the dollar .DXY against six major currencies was 0.1 percent higher.
* The yen rose broadly on Tuesday on dollar and euro selling by Japanese exporters, while sterling faltered on weak data and after Moody's said Britain faces a dilemma over its support for the banking sector. [USD/]
* Dealers said they would watch shares for direction on capital flows.
* Indian shares were seesawing in afternoon trade, taking cues from weak Asian peers and on caution after rising more than 5 percent in about 10 days. [.BO]
* In the currency futures market INRFUTURES, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both at 45.6275, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $3.3 billion. (Reporting by Swati Bhat; Editing by Prem Udayabhanu)
