MUMBAI, June 11 Reuters The Indian rupee was nearly flat on Tuesday, with traders expecting the currency to largely move sideways as the Reserve Bank of India continued to hurdle sharp declines that also helped cool nearterm volatility expectations.

The rupee was at 83.4975 against the U.S. dollar as of 0950 a.m. IST, barely changed from its previous close at 83.5050.

The rupee remained in a narrow band on Monday, with likely intervention from the RBI limiting weakness in the currency, traders said.

The central bank39;s interventions have also helped drive down the dollarrupee pair39;s nearterm volatility expectations.

The 1month implied volatility has declined to 2.20, down from a 6month peak of 3.35 at the end of May in the leadup to India39;s national election outcome on June 4.

Don39;t think the rupee will move much below 83.50 as dollar sale offers from staterun banks, likely on behalf of RBI, continued to linger, a foreign exchange trader at a foreign bank said.

The dollar index was at 105.1, while most Asian currencies slipped in the leadup to the closely watched U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve policy decision due on Wednesday.

While the U.S. central bank is widely expected to keep policy rates unchanged, investors will pay attention to Fed Chair Powell39;s commentary and any updates to the interest rate dot plot.

Interest rate futures are currently pricing in about 38 basis points of rate cuts over 2024, down from nearly 50 last week.

Price…