Mumbai: Indian rupee slipped to its lowest in two weeks today, accompanying the positive behavior of other Asian currencies versus dollar earlier than key U.S. statistics this week, and on worries regarding RBI involvement.

In morning trades, the partially convertible rupee stood at 39.860/865 per dollar, off an early low of 39.90 but still under its last closure (on Monday) of 39.85/86. Markets remained closed on Tuesday for a holiday.

Last week the rupee ascended to a high of 39.62, its all-time peak since April 1998.

A dealer with a state-run bank said, “Rupee shorts are getting covered this morning, and if the RBI comes in it could lose some ground quickly.”

The Philippine peso wipe off half a per cent and other Asian currencies also slipped as market players blocked their selling of dollars earlier than the U.S. information.

The U.S. Institute of Supply Management's indicator on the service sector is due on Wednesday and non-farm payrolls data is due on Friday.

Traders stated that they would personally check the stock market for direction on the rupee. Investment flows have been a key driver of the rupee that has benefited over 11 per cent this year.

The Sensex set a 10th record peak in as many days in early trade today. Statistics showed outsiders purchased about $3.6 billion in the last eight trading days of September abiding by a cut in U.S interest rates on Sept. 18.

Still, dealers remained careful on provoking the RBI, which they told had been functioning to stem the rupee’s increase.

In the first seven months of 2007, the RBI has expended $38.1 billion to test out the rupee.