MUMBAI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee was slightly higher on Wednesday, aided by a pullback in U.S. yields and strength among its Asian peers in light of largely dovish commentary from Federal Reserve officials.
The rupee was at 83.2850 against the U.S. dollar as of 10:45 a.m. IST, stronger by 0.06%, compared with its previous close at 83.3325.
The dollar index last quoted at 102.62 and was hovering close to its weakest level in more than three months.
The 10-year U.S. treasury yield edged lower to 4.29% in Asia after falling 7 bps in New York overnight as Fed officials' comments signalled their increasing comfort with the current level of policy rates.
"I am increasingly confident that policy is currently well positioned to slow the economy and get inflation back to 2%," Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Tuesday.
Fed futures are now pricing in slightly more than 100 basis points of rate cuts in 2024, beginning most likely from May.
The rupee's gains on further dollar weakness are likely to stay marginal, a foreign exchange trader at a state-run bank said. "Anyway, it (the rupee) doesn't react much to global cues these days."
While the dollar index has receded nearly 4% in November so far, the rupee is almost flat on the month, unable to gain on dollar weakness in the face of strong local demand for the greenback.
"The current lower volatility indicates a steady range (but) an inverted perspective prompts cautious anticipation for a potential breakout, possibly below the 83.10-83.00 levels (for USD/INR)," Amit Pabari, managing director at FX advisory firm CR Forex, said.
Investors now await India's GDP data for the third quarter due later in the day and U.S. inflation data for October due on Thursday.
India's GDP is expected to grow by 6.8% quarter-on-quarter, according to a Reuters poll. (Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Sohini Goswami)
