INDIA RUPEE-India's RBI sells dollars to support rupee before market open, traders say

MUMBAI, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India likely sold U.S. dollars before the local spot market opened on Friday to support the rupee, without which the currency would have hit a new all-time low, traders said.

The rupee INR=IN was at 86.5675 per dollar at 9:06 a.m. IST, marginally lower than the previous session.

On the interbank order matching system, the currency had declined to 86.64 before the local spot market opened at 9.00 a.m.. That was a whisker away from its lifetime low of 86.6475.

If it were not for the central bank "making sure of a soft opening", we would be at least at 86.70, a currency dealer at a private bank said.

(Reporting by Nimesh Vora; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

((nimesh.vora@thomsonreuters.com; +91 22 6921 7896;))