Rupee Steady; Corporate Dollar Sales Helped

The rupee was largely steady on Thursday as corporate dollar sales helped offset the initial fall in the local unit due to weak start to domestic shares.

* At 9:25 a.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 50.72/73 per dollar, little changed from Wednesday's close of 50.7350/7450. On Wednesday, it had dropped to 50.96 - its weakest since March 31, 2009.

* The rupee has moved in a 50.70 to 50.8650 band so far in the session on Thursday.

* Shares were see-sawing in early trade after the corporate earnings season failed to provide any cheer to investors.

* Traders said oil refiners, the largest buyers of dollars in the domestic currency market, would likely step in to cover import commitments around current levels, which could pressure the rupee down in later trade.