The Indian rupee weakened slightly on Thursday, as dollar demand from importers including local oil companies eroded positive cues from a rise in most Asian peers.

The rupee was at 83.4675 against the U.S. dollar as of 11:40 a.m. IST, against its close at 83.4250 in the pervious session.

The dollar index was at 105.6 after falling nearly 0.6% on Wednesday while most Asian currencies rose with Thai baht up 0.6% leading gains. U.S. bond yields also slipped on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve's policy decision.

The Fed kept rates unchanged at its meeting on Wednesday with Chair Jerome Powell stating that while the central bank is still leaning towards eventual rate cuts, recent disappointing inflation readings could delay them.

"There are paths to not cutting and there are paths to cutting. It's really going to depend on the data," Powell said in a post-meeting press conference.

Odds of a September rate rose to about 56% following Powell's remarks, up from about 45% on April 30, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

Dollar demand from importers, including local oil companies kept gains at bay for the rupee, a foreign exchange salesperson at a private bank said.

Meanwhile, dollar-rupee forward premiums edged lower with the 1-year implied yield down 1 basis point at 1.66%.

"The rupee is expected to maintain its resilience and may gradually strengthen to around 83.20 to 83.00," Amit Pabari, managing director at FX advisory firm CR Forex said.

Investors now await the U.S. initial jobless claims data due later on Thursday, followed by the March non-farm payrolls report on Friday. (Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)