SINGAPORE, May 14 (Reuters) - The dollar was supported by rising U.S. Treasury yields on Thursday as investors bet on the Federal Reserve raising U.S. interest rates this year, while the stalemate between the United States and Iran over the Middle East conflict increased demand for safe-haven assets.

Global attention is also focused on the meeting between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing today, as the US president seeks to achieve economic gains, maintain a fragile trade truce, and discuss thorny issues such as the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Ahead of the meeting, the yuan settled in offshore trading at its highest level in more than three years, at 6.7860 against the dollar.

Analysts at Barclays Bank expect the yuan to remain stable in onshore transactions in the near term, which "will also help facilitate the course of discussions between the United States and China."

They added, "However, the negative reaction by the authorities, through price controls and intervention, indicates limited patience with the rapid rise."

Traders helped push the currency higher ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting amid expectations of deals being struck between the world's two largest economies.

The dollar was steady on Thursday, leaving the euro little changed at $1.1716, and on track for a 0.57 percent weekly loss, which would be its biggest drop in two months.

The pound traded at $1.3527 in one session, heading for a weekly decline of about 0.8 percent, somewhat affected by the political turmoil in Britain.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar index was last at 98.46, up 0.63 percent since the start of the week. It fell 0.04 percent to 157.83 yen as traders remained on alert for any signs of intervention by Japanese authorities to support the struggling currency.

The dollar received support from signs of renewed inflationary pressures in the United States, as data released on Wednesday showed that producer prices recorded their biggest increase in four years during April.

This followed figures on Tuesday that showed a sharp rise in consumer prices last month, pushing the annual inflation rate up at its fastest pace in three years.

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved the appointment of Kevin Warsh as chairman of the Federal Reserve, making the 56-year-old lawyer and financial expert the head of the U.S. central bank.

According to the CME FedWatch tool, markets now see a 31.8 percent probability of a US interest rate hike in December, up from just over 16 percent a week ago.

Changing interest rate expectations and concerns about rising inflation have pushed up U.S. Treasury yields, with yields on long-term bonds reaching their highest levels since mid-2025 overnight.

The Australian dollar approached its highest level in four years and settled at $0.7255, supported by expectations of monetary tightening in Australia.

The New Zealand dollar fell 0.04 percent to $0.5933.