MUMBAI, Jan 3 Reuters The Indian rupee declined against the U.S. currency on Tuesday, fuelled by the dollar39;s surge versus its major peers and importer hedging, though the Reserve bank of India39;s likely intervention kept the drop short of the 83perdollar mark.

The rupee closed at 82.8800 per U.S. dollar, down from 82.7375 in the previous session.

The local currency on the interbank order matching system fell to 82.9950, prompting staterun banks to sell dollars, likely on behalf of the RBI, three traders told Reuters.

The central bank39;s intervention was in line with its action in recent trading sessions, which traders suspect led to the rupee repeatedly finding support near the 82.90 level.

The RBI is not allowing it USDINR to move higher and therefore it is unable to cross 83.00 for the present, said Anil Bhansali, head of treasury at Finrex Treasury Advisors.

The 83.05level should be a stoploss for unhedged positions of importers, he added.

The rupee which was anyway under pressure on account of importer hedging was further hurt by the dollar39;s surge against its major peers. The dollar index rose almost 1.

The dollar index will be eyeing the slew of key U.S. economic data as it seeks to recover from the near 8 decline in the last quarter. U.S. ISM manufacturing and services data is due later this week, alongside the monthly jobs report.

The dollar39;s jump came despite the relatively upbeat risk appetite and the fall in Treasury yields. European shares…