FOREX-Fed rhetoric restrains dollar as focus stays on inflation

* Dollar index lingers near 2-1/2-month low before CPI data * Euro near 2-1/2-month high as region's outlook improves * Cryptocurrency ether hits new record high at $$4,358.38 * Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E By Tom Westbrook and Kevin Buckland SINGAPORE, May 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar hovered near a 2-1/2-month low versus major peers on Wednesday, as traders hung on to bets that the Federal Reserve would remain steadfast in its easy policy settings ahead of data expected to show a sharp rise in annual U.S. inflation. Analysts forecast figures due at 1230 GMT to show a 3.6% lift in year-on-year prices, boosted by last April's low base. The month-on-month forecast is for a modest 0.2% rise. Higher numbers might add pressure on the Fed to bring forward rate rises, a worry which has contributed to a selloff in rate-sensitive tech shares this week. But currency markets have been soothed by repeated promises of patience from Fed speakers and the dollar has been pressured by gains in commodity currencies. The greenback touched its weakest in more than two months against the euro overnight, following a strong European growth survey, and it traded just shy of that level at $1.2126 in Asia. The yen fell 0.2% to 108.835 per dollar. Risk aversion helped a gauge of the safe-haven dollar a fraction higher to 90.278 as selling pressure persisted in stock markets, but that still left the dollar index just above key support around 89.677 and 89.206. Commodity currencies cooled their heels near milestone peaks, with the Aussie and kiwi sliding 0.5% to sit just below recent ten-week tops, while the Canadian dollar was little changed just shy of Tuesday's almost four-year high. Sterling clung to recent gains to trade at $1.4118. "As long as the equity market doesn't experience a more drastic correction, the dollar is unlikely to get a safe-haven bid," said Rodrigo Catril, a senior currency strategist at National Australia Bank in Sydney. "We know now that the Fed is very much firmly committed to easy policy," he said, a view reinforced by recent comments from Fed members that have made Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan's mention of tapering support last month look like an outlier. "Everybody else has come out firmly saying it's not the time...and that's a dollar negative story." St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Tuesday he expects inflation could stay as high as 2.5% next year, while Fed Governor Lael Brainard said weak labour data last week shows the recovery has a long way to run. "Remaining patient through the transitory surge associated with reopening will help ensure that the underlying economic momentum that will be needed to reach our goals as some current tailwinds shift to headwinds is not curtailed by a premature tightening of financial conditions," she said. Nominal U.S. yields crept higher with the focus on inflation, but real yields remain negative and under pressure. The U.S. currency is also being weighed down by the improving global growth outlook, which tends to draw investors' cash to emerging markets, and by big and growing U.S. trade and current account deficits which also send dollars abroad. The dollar index is "finding some risk aversion-related stability just above 90" amid the sell-off in equities, "but it’s unlikely to morph into any meaningful upside," Westpac strategists wrote in a report. "Fedspeak continues to underscore the patient pledge," while the "eurozone's rebound metrics continue to close the gap with the U.S.," keeping the dollar index heavy through the next several months, they said. In the digital space, cryptocurrency ether rose about 4% to a record $4,358.38, bringing its gain this month to 56%. That's as bigger rival bitcoin remains stuck below $60,000, nearly a month after setting an all-time peak at $64,895.22. It last traded around $57,471.20. ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 535 GMT Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar $1.2127 $1.2148 -0.17% -0.74% +1.2150 +1.2116 Dollar/Yen 108.8220 108.6350 +0.19% +5.38% +108.8920 +108.6300 Euro/Yen Dollar/Swiss 0.9053 0.9035 +0.21% +2.34% +0.9058 +0.9037 Sterling/Dollar 1.4123 1.4140 -0.13% +3.36% +1.4146 +1.4108 Dollar/Canadian 1.2112 1.2102 +0.10% -4.87% +1.2131 +1.2091 Aussie/Dollar 0.7797 0.7840 -0.54% +1.37% +0.7843 +0.7786 NZ 0.7229 0.7269 -0.53% +0.68% +0.7273 +0.7228 Dollar/Dollar All spots Tokyo spots Europe spots Volatilities Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ (Reporting by Tom Westbrook Editing by Shri Navaratnam)