FOREX-Dollar gains on euro zone gloom, US rate view

* Dollar bought ahead of this week's Fed meeting

* Fed seen focusing on inflation

* Weak Ifo, PMIs denting euro zone rate hike view (Updates prices, adds quotes, changes byline)

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) - The dollar rose on Monday, as weak euro zone data took the steam out of last week's euro rally and investors braced for a Federal Reserve statement this week that will likely focus on rising U.S. inflation pressures.

The Fed's inflation mindset when it announces its monetary policy decision on Wednesday should ensure that U.S. interest rates will remain unchanged after a string of cuts since mid-September, analysts said.

Earlier in the session, reports showed high energy costs had soured German business sentiment and the euro zone's manufacturing and service sectors contracted in June, denting the case for higher euro zone interest rates and punishing the euro across the board. At current prices, the euro on Monday posted its largest daily loss in about two weeks.

"A lot of the dollar's strength is coming from the euro trade this morning, with euro-land data quite soft today," said Mark Frey, head foreign exchange trader at Custom House Global Foreign Exchange in Victoria, Canada.

At the same time, Frey said what could further support the dollar is the possibility of some "hawkish rhetoric" from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement.

"Dollar bulls are hoping that the FOMC will go into a firm neutral stance, although the chances of a rate hike at this stage are an extreme remote possibility. I really don't think the Fed is ready to go higher on rates," Frey said.

By late trading, the euro fell half a percent to $1.5520EUR=. The dollar rose nearly 1 percent against the Swiss franc to 1.0456 francs CHF=.

DOLLAR-INFLATION LINK

The Fed is expected to hold rates at 2 percent on Wednesday but the futures markets have priced in a pair of rate hikes by year end due to surging energy and food price inflation.

"The recent uptick in inflation concerns is likely to be reinforced in the statement by reference to energy-led price pressures and rising inflation expectations,' JPMorgan Chase said in a research note.

"We do not, however, look for any explicit mention linking the value of the dollar to inflation," the note said.

Unlike the Fed, the European Central Bank has signaled a rate hike in July, though officials have been at pains to make clear that this would not necessarily lead to a series of hikes.