MUMBAI, Aug 30 Reuters The Indian rupee weakened for the second day on Wednesday as U.S. dollar demand from importers and equityrelated outflows pressured the domestic unit despite lower U.S. treasury yields and softness in the dollar.

The rupee closed slightly lower at 82.7325, as compared to 82.7050 in the previous session. Asian currencies traded mixed as the Indonesian rupiah and Malysian ringgit strengthened, while the Thai baht and Korean won weakened.

Importers moving in to hedge, speculative positioning by private banks, and block dealrelated equity outflows weighed on the rupee, a foreign exchange trader at a staterun bank said.

Wednesday39;s weakness in the rupee was less about demand and more about a lack of sellers, the trader said. Weighed by domestic factors, the rupee weakened despite a pullback in U.S. treasury yields on Tuesday.

The yield on the twoyear treasury fell to 4.91 and the 10year yield also declined to 4.14, following softerthanexpected jobs and consumer confidence data in the United States.

A loosening in the labour market or dampening customer sentiment could dilute the odds of another hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which in turn is beneficial for currencies like the rupee.

The rupee is likely to hover between 82.40 to 83.05 this week with a breach of 83 back on the cards, said Gaurang Somaiya, FX and rates researcher at Motilal Oswal.

Investors will also eye U.S. GDP data for the June quarter, due later in the day, which could…