The rupee recovered from a four-week low to end steady on Wednesday, on strong foreign fund flows into local stocks, but dollar demand from oil importers and companies for month-end bills kept sentiment edgy.
The rupee finished at 44.0400/0450 per dollar, off an intra-day low of 44.0850 and little changed from Tuesday's four-week closing low of 44.04/05.
Employees from the bank and insurance sector have called a one-day strike on Thursday to protest against the communist-backed ruling coalition's economic policies.
One-month non-deliverable rupee forwards (NDFs) were quoted at 44.16/44.26 per dollar, pricing in up to a 0.4 percent depreciation in the rupee from the current spot rate.
The dollar traded steady on the day at $1.2018 per euro, compared with Tuesday's two-month high of $1.1976. It was down 0.15 percent on the day at 113.11 yen, compared with 113.50 in the previous session.
These funds have poured $8.5 billion into Indian stocks since the start of 2005, hoping to gain from India's $700 billion economy which is expected to grow 7 percent this year.