MUMBAI: The Indian rupee extended gains in afternoon session on Tuesday tracking firm domestic shares but the dollar's gains versus major currencies prevented a further sharp uptick. * At 2:32 p.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 45.24/25 per dollar, above its 45.45/46 close on Monday when it had fallen as low as 45.5175, its weakest since Dec. 20. * Indian shares were trading up 0.6 percent after five straight days of fall and traders said some foreign fund inflows into stocks were seen which helped the rupee. * India's central bank is widely expected to raise rates by 25 basis points at its policy review on Jan. 25 and is seen raising rates by a total of 75 basis points in 2011. * The euro on Tuesday hovered above a four-month trough hit the previous day, after Japan said it may buy about a fifth of the bonds a European rescue fund plans to sell later this month to finance its bailout scheme for Ireland. * The index of the dollar against six major currencies was up 0.1 percent at 80.964. Asian currencies were trading mixed. * One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 45.47, weaker than the onshore spot rate. * In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, MCX-SX and United Stock Exchange were all at 45.39, with the total traded volume on the three exchanges at about $4 billion.

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