The rupee fell for a sixth session in seven on Thursday as heavy dollar buying by oil refiners and gold importers continued to hurt the local unit amid another bout of risk aversion globally.

Traders said oil firms, the largest buyers of dollars in the domestic currency market, continued to buy the greenback to meet month-end and year-end demand, especially amid slightly lower global crude prices.

The partially convertible rupee closed at 54.8450/8550 per dollar compared with its close of 54.55/56 on Wednesday. The pair moved in a range of 54.6450 to 54.91 during the session. In the offshore non-deliverable forward market, the one-month contract was at 55.16 while the three-month was at 55.69.