The Indian rupee was almost steady in afternoon trade on Thursday after posting its steepest yearly fall since the balance of payments crisis in the early 1990s but volumes were very thin with some dollar demand from importers. * At 3:20 p.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 48.75/76 per dollar, little changed from its Wednesday's close of 48.70/72. * Indian shares rose more than 2.5 percent as trading started for the new year buoyed by hopes for an economic package and rate cuts, after they slumped more than half in 2008 in its worst annual fall. See [.BO]. * Foreign fund withdrawals of $13.3 billion from the stock market in 2008 was one of the key factors for the rupee's 19.1 percent fall in 2008. * India's current account deficit swelled to a record $12.54 billion in the September quarter and analysts warned on Wednesday it could balloon further as the world economy slows, putting pressure on the rupee. See [ID:nBOM114479]. (Reporting by Swati Bhat; Editing by Ramya Venugopal)

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