MUMBAI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee and bond yields this week will be looking at the U.S. inflation data for cues on when the Federal Reserve is likely to reduce borrowing costs, as well as India's inflation data.

The U.S. inflation numbers are due on Thursday, while the Indian print is due the following day.

The U.S. data was more important from the rupee point of view, while for bond yields, it will be the India data, a treasury official at a bank said.

He expects the rupee to be in the 83.00-83.30 range, with "an upward bias."

The rupee on Friday ended at 83.15, up about 0.1% week-on-week and faring better than most of its Asian peers.

The closely watched U.S. jobs report released on Friday is not likely to have a major impact on the rupee, according to traders.

U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in December and wages increased more than expected, but the number of jobs added in the previous two months was revised lower.

While the payrolls headline was better than expected, the 3-month average was 165,000, down from 284,000 a year earlier, with net revisions totalling -71,000, ANZ said in a note.

The trend "indicates a substantial slowdown in hiring", but the momentum still looks too robust for the Fed to cut in March, ANZ said.

BONDS

India's 10-year benchmark bond yield ended higher in the first week of 2024 at 7.2348%, rising six basis points for the week.

Traders expect the yield to fluctuate in the 7.18%-7.27% range this week, and anticipate increased volumes after shallow trading seen in recent weeks.

Still, some traders are optimistic about the outlook and see bond yields coming off.

India's benchmark bond yield is likely to ease by around 50 basis points, reaching 6.75% in the coming months, while shorter-end debt could see sharper falls, leading to a steepening of the yield curve, Vikas Goel, managing director at the primary dealer PNB Gilts, said.

The domestic yield curve is likely to steepen in 2024 amid bets of rate cuts from both the Fed and the Reserve Bank of India.

Further, the focus remains on the actions of foreign investors who continued to buy government bonds in the first week of 2024, following their biggest purchases in six years in 2023.

KEY EVENTS: ** U.S. Nov international trade - Jan. 9, Tuesday ** U.S. initial weekly jobless claims week to Jan. 1 - Jan. 11, Thursday (7:00 p.m. IST) (Reuters poll 0.2% on-month)

** U.S. Dec CPI - Jan. 11, Thursday (7:00 p.m. IST)

** India Dec CPI inflation - Jan. 12, Friday (5:30 p.m. IST) (Reuters poll 5.7% on-year) ** India Nov industrial output - Jan. 12, Friday (5:30 p.m. IST) (Reuters poll 5.7% on-year)

** U.S. Dec PPI machine manufacturing - Jan. 12, Friday (7:00 p.m. IST) (Reporting by Nimesh Vora and Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)