INDIA RUPEE-Rupee takes a breather, forward premiums hover near 6-week low

By Nimesh Vora MUMBAI, April 20 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee, having lost ground to the U.S. dollar over the last three days, found a bit of support in early traders, while forward premiums held declines. The rupee was at 82.20 to the dollar by 10:54 a.m. IST, broadly unchanged from the previous session. The local currency will be hoping to halt a losing run that has pushed it to its lowest in two weeks. The rupee has came under pressure on the back of dollar demand from importers and a recovery in U.S. yields, Amit Pabari, managing director at CR Forex, said. Traders are looking to gauge if the rupee's downside momentum will persist following the subdued at open. "Expectedly, its quiet at open. As a trader, you are basically feeling it out whether the up move (on USD/INR) has more legs or whether it will stall around here," a spot dealer said. The move higher on USD/INR has usually happened later in the session and we could have a repeat of it, he said. Other Asian currencies were mixed, while the dollar index was only marginally lower. The muted move comes the in wake of odds of the U.S. Federal Reserve hiking rates by 25 basis points in May nearing 90%, and in the absence of top-tier U.S. data releases. Meanwhile, USD/INR premiums were broadly unchanged after Wednesday's plunge. Swap traders reckon that the move up in U.S. yields following the higher-than-expected UK inflation data is responsible for sending the 1-year USD/INR forward implied yield to the lowest in six weeks. (Reporting by Nimesh Vora; Editing by Varun H K)