MUMBAI, Jan 4 Reuters The Indian rupee ended slightly stronger on Thursday, aided by dollar inflows, even as most of its Asian peers were on the back foot as investors moderated their expectations of early U.S. rate cuts this year.

The rupee ended at 83.23 against the U.S. dollar, higher by 0.05 compared with its close at 83.2750 in the previous session.

The dollar index edged lower to 102.14 after touching a morethantwoweek high in the New York session, supported by an uptick in U.S. yields and tepid risk appetite.

While the rupee hovered in a tight range in the earlier half of the session, dollar inflows post the midday fixing window aided gains in the local unit, a foreign exchange trader at a private bank said.

But constant dollar buying by staterun banks, kept the rupee39;s gains constrained, the trader added.

Most Asian currencies weakened, with the Korean won leading losses down by 0.3.

The rupee39;s prevailing tight range has made the market lacklustre, and till it breaks on either side, it39;s tricky to assess the overall trend, said Abhilash Koikkaraa, head of forex and rates at Nuvama Professional Clients Group.

Minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve39;s December meeting, released on Wednesday, signalled a growing sense that inflation is under control but offered no direct cues on when rate cuts might commence.

The Fed is making real progress towards controlling inflation and the hopedfor soft landing is increasingly conceivable, Richmond Federal Reserve…