Indian rupee up on unwinding of long dlr positions

* Dollar index edges lower after overnight gains; helps rupee

* Trading likely to ranged unless stocks break on either side (Updates to early trade)

MUMBAI, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee nudged higher on Wednesday as traders unwound long dollar positions, with the U.S. unit easing against majors.

At 9:40 a.m. (0410 GMT), the partially convertible rupee INR=IN was at 46.27/28 per dollar, off a high of 46.22 and marginally above its previous close of 46.30/31.

"There are no major cues on either sides today and the rupee is likely to be held in a range of 46.15-46.35," said Madhusudan Somani, head of foreign exchange trading at Yes Bank.

"Today morning's selling was due to the squaring off of overnight small long dollar positions. There were good oil bids at the lower levels," he said.

Oil CLc1 is India's biggest import and refiners are the largest buyers of dollars in the local currency market.

Dealers said they would be watching the dollar's moves versus majors and domestic shares for further direction.

The dollar index .DXY, a gauge of the U.S. unit's performance versus six majors, was down 0.1 percent.