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After a long time, the interbank foreign exchange market witnessed quiet and dull trading as the Indian rupee remained more or less steady against the greenback in a listless trading throughout the day.

The currency opened at Rs 36.55-56 per dollar and moved in the range of Rs 36.56-58 for the most part of the day. The rupee was quoted at the day's high of Rs 35.52-55 when some dollar selling pressure was witnessed at around 1545 hours, dealers said. Finally, the rupee closed in the range of 36.54-57 per dollar.

Elsewhere, the RBI fixed reference rate at Rs 36.56, higher by 11 paise against the previous fix of Rs 36.45 per dollar.

''Both the exporters and importers watched the market cautiously after noticing the RBI's approach in cooling the market, which had witnessed high volatility in the last three days,'' a senior dealer of a nationalised bank said.

''There were some rumours in the market that the RBI had intervened in the forward premia. However, it could not be confirmed,'' he added.

The monthly forward premia eased further, showing a good recovery compared to previous levels.

The forward premia in paise were 10-11 for September, 32-34 for October, 50-53 for November, 74-75 for December, 95-98 for January, 110-113 for February, 130-135 for March and 158-161 for April.

Against other currencies, the rupee closed at Rs 58.08 per pound while it was quoted at Rs 20.40 per mark, and reported steady movement against the yen at Rs 30.71 per 100 yen.