Indian rupee down as oil cos buy dlrs; shares weigh

* Oil co dollar demand pushes rupee lower

* Losses in stocks weigh on sentiment

* Lower crude prices seen curbing sharp depreciation (Updates to close)

By Swati Bhat

MUMBAI, July 24 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee shed early gains to close weaker on Thursday, as oil companies bought dollars from the local currency market to fund their import commitments, while losses in local shares also weighed.

The partially convertible rupee <INR=IN> ended at 42.13/14 per dollar, off an early high of 41.82, its highest since May 12, and 0.1 percent lower than 42.09/10 at Wednesday's close.

"Oil companies bought dollars in the market after a long time today, while profit-booking was also another reason why the rupee weakened," said L. Subramanian, chief dealer with ICICI Bank.

"If oil prices soften to about $120 per barrel then the rupee would not depreciate much, but technically it could go down to 42.47 levels," he added.

Oil CLc1, India's biggest import, was trading just above $124.5 per barrel, after having touched a record $147.27 earlier this month. See [O/R].