MUMBAI, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is expected to be under slight pressure on Wednesday in the wake of the U.S. dollar's uptick and the Asian currency's inability to pierce a key resistance.

Non-deliverable forwards indicate the rupee will open flat to weaker to the dollar from its close of 83.1150 in the previous session.

The rupee was unable to sustain an advance to the 83.00-83.05 region on Monday and Tuesday.

When a currency is "this narrow, small moves matter" and the rupee's unsuccessful attempt to climb past the 83 handle "is a dampener", an fx trader at a bank said.

"And with the dollar sort of resuming its nascent uptrend, there will be little incentive to short (USD/INR)."

The dollar index has managed to reclaim 102.50, helped by a slightly weak risk appetite. The S&P 500 stock index dipped marginally on Tuesday and Asian equities were mixed.

Asian currencies were down 0.1% to 0.4%, with the offshore Chinese yuan at its weakest in nearly a month.

The dollar's direction is likely to depend mostly on how the U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut outlook pans out. Investors have priced in more rate cuts this year than what the central bank has forecast.

The U.S. inflation update on Thursday will be an important data point in this matter. A soft print will fortify bets of a rate cut in March, pushing near-maturity U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar lower.

"We forecast headline and core CPI (consumer price index) rose by 0.3% month-on-month," BofA Securities said in a note.

"The CPI data could move Fed funds market pricing. A forecast in line with our expectations would keep a March cut in play."

KEY INDICATORS:

** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 83.22; onshore one-month forward premium at 9 paisa

** Dollar index up at 102.52

** Brent crude futures up 0.4% at $77.9 per barrel

** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.02%

** As per NSDL data, foreign investors bought a net $34.3 million worth of Indian shares on Jan. 8

** NSDL data shows foreign investors bought a net $11.7 million worth of Indian bonds on Jan. 8 (Reporting by Nimesh Vora; Editing by Savio D'Souza)