Mumbai, Aug 17 - In lacklustre trade, the Indian rupee Friday snapped its four-day downtrend and edged up by two paise to end at 55.73 against the American currency amid dollar selling by exporters.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed better at 55.70 a dollar from previous close of 55.75.

Later, it moved in a volatile manner between 55.60 and 55.78 before concluding at 55.73 - two paise higher from the previous close.

Dollar selling was seen by exporters as also buying by importers, but demand was little bit more than supply, aiding the rupee rise, said forex traders.

On a weekly basis, the rupee weakened by 45 paise from last weekend's closing of 55.28 a dollar.

Globally, the dollar index was up by 0.06 per cent Friday against a basket of six major global currencies while New York crude oil was trading above USD 95 a barrel in Europe.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India) said: "The rupee today witnessed one of its narrowest trading ranges (18 paise for the whole day) in last 10-12 months. The markets lacked momentum and remained in a confined range recording lower volumes".

The European currency witnesses a modest rebound against the US dollar after the German Chancellor said their country is ready to help the ECB in solving the debt crisis of the region.

"After rupee breaching 56 levels it is again seen trading range bound on account of optimism from Eurozone. The conclusion on the Euro crisis is still far as there are a lot of issues to be addressed," said Abhishek Goenka, Founder & CEO, India Forex Advisors.

Meanwhile, the Indian stock market benchmark Sensex, which was up by about 144 points at midsession, reacted downwards at the fag end and ended up by a mere 34 points after the CAG came out with important reports. PTI