The Rupee closed largely flat on Friday, tracking rangebound Asian peers with traders expecting the local unit to stick to its prevailing range ahead of closely watched U.S. inflation data. Asian currencies were mostly rangebound despite a surge in US bond yields but the Japanese yen dropped to its lowest in 34 years after the Bank of Japan kept policy rates unchanged. The dollar index was steady at 105.7 even as the 10-year Treasury yield rose above 4.70% for the first since November after a US inflation reading cemented bets that the Federal Reserve will not rush to cut interest rates. Meanwhile, U.S. GDP data for the January-March quarter showed that the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.6% last quarter, below the 2.4% gain expected by economists. Odds of a Fed rate cut in July have dropped to about 33%, down from slightly above 40% a week earlier. Sterling steadied on Friday after rising to a two-week high against the dollar as markets awaited for key U.S. inflation data for clues on the Federal Reserve's next moves. Against the closely watched declining yen, sterling rose to its highest level in almost 16 years. It was flat at $1.2510 after rising earlier in the day to its highest against the dollar since April 12, adding to Thursday's rally after U.S. data showed economic growth unexpected slowed, while inflation accelerated, which reinforced expectations the Fed would not cut interest rates before September. Against the Japanese currency, sterling jumped 1.3% to 196.11, having touched its highest level since September 2008. Oil prices rose on Friday, on track to end higher this week following two straight weeks of losses, after a top U.S. official expressed optimism over economic growth and U.S. inflation rose moderately in March in line with expectations. Brent crude futures were up 60 cents, or 0.7%, to $89.61 a barrel at 1318 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 60 cents, or 0.8%, to $84.23 a barrel.......