MUMBAI, Jan 16 Reuters The Indian central bank was likely selling dollars via staterun banks to support the rupee on Thursday, as the currency declined on the back of dollar bids from importers and foreign banks, three traders told Reuters.

The rupee was down 0.1 at 86.48 against the U.S. dollar as of 1240 p.m. IST. The rupee had weakened to an alltime low of 86.6475 earlier this week.

Staterun banks were spotted offering dollars near 86.50 levels, most likely on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India, the traders said.

The central bank seems to be protecting the 86.50 level so we could see it USDINR dip towards the end of the session, a trader at a private bank said.

The dollar index was at 109.1, while Asian currencies were mixed.

Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Eileen Soreng

Source Reuters