MUMBAI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is likely to face pressure on Tuesday due to heightened dollar demand spurred by the maturity of positions in the non-deliverable forwards (NDF) market, while a dip in regional peers and portfolio outflows may add to the headwinds.

The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated that the rupee will open at 86.93-86.94 to the U.S. dollar, compared with 86.8775 in the previous session.

Bids to buy dollars at the daily reference rate are likely to be elevated due to the maturity of large positions in the NDF market, three traders said.

The cumulative size of the maturities is estimated to be around $4 billion, a Singapore-based trader at a bank said.

A decline in Asian currencies is also likely to weigh on the rupee with its peers down between 0.1% to 0.3%.

The dollar index was up 0.1% at 106.9, recovering slightly from its lowest level in about two months.

"Unless you have a strong conviction that the U.S. activity data is going to decelerate sharply from here... it looks like we're getting towards the end of this dollar correction," ING Bank said in a note.

Meanwhile, persistent foreign portfolio outflows have also hurt the rupee, with overseas investors having net pulled out about $12 billion from local stocks in 2025 so far.

The rupee has weakened about 1.5% year-to-date and is among the worst performing regional currencies.

It declined to an all-time low of 87.95 last week and might have had to endure deeper losses had it not been for the Reserve Bank of India's stern interventions, which have blunted speculative bets against the currency.

Traders expect the central bank to continue stepping into the market to prevent excessive volatility.

KEY INDICATORS:

** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 87.12; onshore one-month forward premium at 19.50 paisa

** Dollar index up 0.1% at 106.87

** Brent crude futures down 0.2% at $75.1 per barrel

** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.51%

** As per NSDL data, foreign investors sold a net $578.2 million worth of Indian shares on February 14

** NSDL data shows foreign investors sold a net $30.6 million worth of Indian bonds on February 14

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/maturity-ndf-positions-dip-asian-peers-likely-weigh-rupee-2025-02-18/