MUMBAI, July 12 Reuters The Indian rupee rose for a third consecutive session on Wednesday as the dollar continued its slide ahead of U.S. inflation data that could potentially support bets of the Federal Reserve not hiking interest rates beyond July this year.

The rupee ended at 82.2475 against the dollar at 330 p.m. IST, after closing at 82.3650 on Tuesday. The currency has risen 0.6 so far this week.

The week39;s gains in the rupee have somewhat restored confidence among domestic players on the currency, said Jayram Krishnamurthy, cofounder of Almus Risk Consulting.

The dollar index slipped to a fresh twomonth low of 101.33 on Wednesday, while U.S. yields extended their declines ahead of data that is expected to show that both headline and core U.S. consumer price index rose 0.3 monthonmonth in June, per a Reuters poll.

On a yearonyear basis, the headline CPI is expected to have climbed 3.1, slower than a 4 rise in May.

Assuming no nasty upside surprises here, this may be enough to firm up a view that a 25 bps basis points Fed hike may well be the last in the cycle, ING Bank said in a note.

Markets have factored in a 25bps rate hike at its July meeting, but analysts are doubtful if the U.S. central bank would hike rates beyond that.

Fed officials have, however, indicated that one more rate hike after July could be needed.

Most Asian currencies rose 0.1 to 0.4 against the dollar ahead of the data.

India39;s June inflation data, also due Wednesday, is expected…