The Rupee opened weaker on Tuesday caught once again between pressure from higher oil prices, dollar demand from companies looking to hedge their FX exposure ?and the central bank's persistent presence in the market. Importers have used the rupee's recovery to lock in dollar requirements, while the prospect of costlier crude keeps demand for hedging high. TImporters have used the rupee's recovery to lock in dollar requirements, while the prospect of costlier crude keeps demand for hedging high. The Reserve Bank of India, which helped drive the initial rally through persistent dollar sales, remains present in the market. Its role in recent sessions has shifted toward absorbing pressure from oil and higher U.S. Treasury yields rather than actively pushing the rupee higher, bankers said. The RBI is quite active ?around ?the 94.50 level for now, a currency trader at a bank said. The Japanese yen climbed to a seven-month high against the U.S. dollar on ?Tuesday, as traders continued to unwind short positions amid growing bets of a Bank of Japan interest-rate hike while the dollar was subdued ahead of CPI data this week. The yen strengthened to as much as 152.89 per dollar in morning trading, surpassing levels reached during Japan's July intervention and hitting its strongest since February. It later pared some gains and was last ?at 153.32.Oil and importer demand is making it harder to push dollar/rupee lower, and the RBI may be more comfortable defending these levels, he added. That added to the yen's 1.2% jump during a thin session on Monday amid a U.S. holiday, with the Japanese currency now having firmed roughly 4.5% from around 160 yen per dollar early last week. Traders and analysts said a slew of factors, including bets on a faster pace of Bank of Japan tightening, and the potential for Japanese investors to repatriate their funds, unwinding carry trades and U.S. political pressure are now driving a sea change for the embattled currency and turning away the bears. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was a touch weaker at 98.83 amid yen strength. That left the euro and sterling both largely flat, last at $1.1625 and $1.3535, respectively. Oil prices ?extended gains on Tuesday as risks of a prolonged conflict in the Middle East grew after Iran threatened to retaliate against any new U.S. attacks on its assets, heightening worries over supply disruption. Brent crude futures climbed 49 cents, or 0.5%, to $97.49 a barrel ?by 0400 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $92.92 a barrel, up $1.44, or 1.6%.......