MUMBAI: The Indian rupee was stuck in a narrow range on Friday as caution before US Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke's speech around 7:30 p.m. local time kept traders on the sidelines.
Negative local shares and a ranged euro also offset comfort from positive Asian peers to hold back the rupee, traders said.
Now, while some traders hope new steps will be announced by Bernanke in his speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to help achieve lift-off for an economy that is stuck on the runway, it is likely that he may only outline gradualist moves.
At 2:14 p.m., the partially convertible rupee was 46.06/07 to a dollar, little changed from Thursday's close of 46.04/05.
The euro was at $1.4435 from $1.4438 at the end of local forex trade on Thursday, while the index of the dollar against six major currencies was down 0.45 per cent at 73.944 points, but higher from 73.961 points previously.
The local benchmark share index was down 0.87 down after rising 1 per cent in opening trades.
