Mumbai, Apr 27 - The Indian rupee finished barely steady at 52.54/55 against the American currency due to uneven demand and supply of dollars at the Inerbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

The rupee resumed higher at 52.47/48 per dollar as against the last closing level of 52.55/56 per dollar but declined immediately to touch a low of 52.73 per dollar on good month-end dollar demand from importers and oil refiners.

However, finally it ended marginally higher at 52.54/55 per dollar due to mild selling of dollars from banks and exporters.The domestic currency moved in a range of 52.47 per dollar and 52.73 per dollar during the day.

Month-end dollar demand from oil refiners affected the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said. In the New York market, the dollar fell against the Japanese yen yesterday. It also slipped against the euro.

In London, the euro recouped losses in the early trade after a smooth Italian bond auction eased concerns over peripheral euro zone debt markets and offset jitters sparked by a downgrade of Spain's sovereign debt and dismal Spanish economic data.

Standard & Poor's cut Spain's credit rating to BBB-plus from A late on Thursday and gave it a negative outlook, warning it expects the government's budget deficit to deteriorate even more than previously thought due to economic contraction.

Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark sensex ended slightly higher by 3.58 points or 0.02 per cent. PTI