The Indian rupee ended steady on Wednesday as importers remained concerned with rising global oil prices, which were hovering just shy of a $47-per-barrel peak and depressing sentiment for the local currency, dealers said.
The rupee finished unchanged at 46.3500/3600 per dollar, after recovering off a 46.42 morning low.
Traders said some state-run banks, which normally intervene on behalf of the central bank, had stepped in and sold dollars around the 46.42 level to help bolster the local currency.
"The central bank is clearly there to lend support at the lower levels below 46.40 and that is protecting the rupee from the oil demand pressure," a trader at a state-run bank said. "Some foreign banks, which usually represent foreign funds, also came in to sell dollars later in the day."
Traders said with US light crude prices bobbing around the $47 per barrel level, there was little likelihood of dollar demand from importers easing on Thursday, which means the rupee will probably be pinned down in a narrow range.
Rupee premiums on forward dollars were also unmoved, with the benchmark six-month dollar flat at an annualised 2.74 percent. Traders said the dollar's weakness overseas amid worries about the record US trade deficit were offset by the rupee's woes.