MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee gained further in afternoon trade on Wednesday, buoyed by an improvement in risk appetite globally, although volatile local shares and oil importers' dollar demand weighed.
* At 2:00 p.m. (0830 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 53.1500/1525 to the dollar, 0.1 percent stronger than its close on Tuesday.
* Traders said dollar selling by foreign banks also helped the rupee.
* India's main stock index was about 0.4 percent higher in choppy trade with investors wary about quarterly earnings that begin to roll out from next week.
(Reporting by Shamik Paul; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan)
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