MUMBAI, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee was little changed on Thursday, ducking the pressures on its Asian peers, as the central bank likely sold U.S. dollars to prevent weakness in the local unit.
The rupee was at 83.26 against the U.S. dollar as of 11:05 a.m. IST, barely changed from its close of 83.2575 in the previous session.
Asian currencies fell with the Korean won leading losses, down by nearly 0.8%. The dollar index was steady at 106.60.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was likely selling dollars to prevent the rupee from breaching its record low, five traders told Reuters.
Aided by the RBI, the rupee has hovered in a narrow band of 83.12 and 83.28 through all of October's spot trading sessions so far. The unit had hit a record low of 83.29 in October 2022.
The RBI is unlikely to relent in its defence of the rupee anytime soon, a foreign exchange trader at a state-run bank said. "83.20 to 83.30 is the range for now."
Higher U.S. Treasury yields, elevated crude oil prices and the risk-off triggered by the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East have pressured Asian currencies in recent days.
Short positions on the rupee have firmed to their highest since November 2022, according to a Reuters poll.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to its highest since 2007 in Asia. Brent crude oil futures were last quoted slightly lower at $91.12 per barrel.
"The way volatility (in dollar/rupee) is getting compressed, an accident can happen any time," said Anindya Banerjee, head of foreign exchange research at Kotak Securities, referring to the rising chances of the rupee falling to fresh lifetime lows.
The rupee's volatility based on closing prices over the last 10 days is less than 1%, the lowest in nearly 20 years. (Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
