Rupee ends near two-week high ahead of U.S. inflation data for Fed clues

BENGALURU, June 13 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee closed near a two-week high on Tuesday as the dollar fell ahead of U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserves rate decision.

The rupee hit a peak of 82.3650 to the dollar, its highest since June 2, before ending at 82.3675, compared with 82.43 in the previous session. It closed higher for a third consecutive session.

Data later in the day is expected to show core U.S. inflation rose 0.4% on-month, well above the pace required to bring inflation back to the Federal Reserves medium-term target.

The Feds interest rate decision is due Wednesday, with futures indicating a 23% chance of a rate hike, down from more than 60% at the beginning of the month.

However, the inflation data may alter that projection immediately if the data surprises on the higher side, said Arnob Biswas, FX research analyst at SMC Global Securities.

U.S. yields were marginally lower and the dollar index dropped to 103.30 on the day.

Asian currencies were mixed, with the offshore Chinese yuan plumbing new 2023 lows, while the Korean won rallied over 1%.

The yuan hit 7.1782 against the dollar, its lowest since November 2022, after Chinas central bank lowered the short-term lending rate to boost the economy.

The trend of the yuans move having a directional bias on other Asian forex has been broken recently, said Madhavi Arora, Lead Economist, Emkay Global.