Rupee edges up as dollar softens

The Indian rupee made slim gains against the US dollar on Wednesday, as the greenback slipped ahead of a crucial US inflation report that could influence the Federal Reserve's next policy move.

The rupee was trading at 82.0750 per dollar by 10:44 a.m. IST compared with 82.1250 in the previous session.

Asian currencies were mostly higher, while the dollar index extended losses ahead of March US consumer price index data. Core CPI, in focus, likely rose by 0.4 per cent month-on-month in March, according to economists polled by Reuters.

That would be down from the 0.5 per cent increase in February, but well above the pace required for bringing annual inflation to Fed's 2 per cent target. Headline inflation is expected to rise 0.2 per cent.

Following the robust jobs report, investors have increased their bets of a 25 bps points hike by the Fed at the May meeting to 70 per cent.