MUMBAI, Sept 14 Reuters The Indian rupee was marginally higher on Thursday, with upside on the currency limited by persistent dollar demand from importers and concerns over elevated oil prices.

The rupee was at 82.95 against the U.S. dollar by 1105 a.m., compared with 82.9850 in the previous session.

Feel that we39;re forming a base here for USDINR around 82.8582.90, said Apurva Swarup, vice president at Shinhan Bank India. Importers are buying on dips and oil companies have been active as well, sustaining pressure on the rupee, he added.

Brent crude futures climbed to a yeartodate high of 92.84 per barrel on Wednesday and last quoted at 92.38 in Asia hours.

Oil output cuts which Saudi Arabia and Russia have extended to the end of 2023 will mean a substantial market deficit through the fourth quarter, the International Energy Agency IEA said.

Although equity inflows will support the rupee, crude prices will be source of weakness, a foreign exchange trader at a staterun bank said.

The rupee was also barely affected by U.S. core consumer price index CPI data, which came in at 0.3 monthonmonth compared to an expectation of 0.2.

Meanwhile, the dollar index weakened 0.17 to 104.56 in Asia trading hours.

Investors will now watch for U.S. initial jobless claims, due later in the day, for further cues on the state of labour market, a key determinant of Fed policy.

Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Varun H K

Source Reuters