MUMBAI, July 3 Reuters The Indian rupee was little changed on Wednesday as a dip in U.S. bond yields did little to help Asian currencies which remained under pressure due to weakness in the Japanese yen and the Chinese yuan.

The rupee was at 83.50 against the U.S. dollar as of 1020 a.m. IST, nearly unchanged from its previous close at 83.5050.

The dollar index dipped on Tuesday after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pushed bond yields in the United States lower, offsetting the impact of a strong domestic jobs report.

Powell said the U.S. was getting back on a deflationary path but cautioned that the Fed would need more evidence of falling inflation before cutting rates.

Weakness in the dollar was of little help to the rupee39;s Asian peers though as the offshore Chinese yuan fell to 7.31, its weakest level since November, while the Japanese yen was pinned close to its lowest in 38 years.

The rupee is likely to keep its sideways trend, with weakness capped near 83.60, a foreign exchange trader at a staterun bank said.

The Reserve Bank of India may allow gradual depreciation if the yuan weakness continues, the trader added.

The offshore Chinese yuan has declined about 2.5 over 2024, while the rupee is down about 0.3. Analysts broadly expect the rising odds of a second U.S. presidential term for Donald Trump to keep the Chinese currency under pressure.

The Indian central bank39;s tolerance for rupee appreciation against yuan beyond current levels…