The Indian rupee was nearly flat on Friday as likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India helped the currency hold above its all-time low amid pressure from weakness in local equities, which declined tracking a sell-off in global peers.

The rupee was at 83.7225 against the US dollar as of 10:35 a.m. IST, nearly unchanged from its close at 83.7175 on Thursday.

Benchmark Indian equity indexes, the BSE Sensex (.BSESN), opens new tab and Nifty 50 (.NSEI), opens new tab were down about 1% each, tracking a sell-off in global peers.

US stock futures also extended their declines, with Nasdaq futures down 1.3% while S&P 500 futures fell by 0.7%.

Dollar bids from at least two large US based foreign banks, likely on behalf of custodial clients, pressured the rupee in early trading, a foreign exchange trader at a private bank said.

The RBI likely sold dollars via state-run banks to support the local currency as it hovered close to its all-time low of 83.7450, traders said.

Concerns about geopolitical tensions and a slowdown in the US economy, in light of data that signalled an unexpected slump in U.S. manufacturing activity last month, drove U.S. bond yields lower.

The 10-year US Treasury yield hit a six-month low of 3.94% in Asia trading while the dollar index was at 104.3. Asian currencies were mostly up by 0.1% to 0.8%.

“A return to broad-based USD weakness is still possible this month... but the (the dollar index) still needs to break below 104 first,” DBS Bank said in a note.

Meanwhile, dollar-rupee forward premiums rose with the 1-year implied yield up 4 basis points at 1.91%, its highest level in six months, lifted by the decline in US bond yields.