The dollar index held around 99.8 after rebounding from a two-month low, and the greenback traded sideways at the start of Asian trading on Wednesday as investors waited for U.S. inflation data. The yen was flat at 159.275 per dollar, near its weakest level this month despite the recent joint foreign-exchange intervention by U.S. and Japanese authorities, while the euro held at $1.1542, sterling at $1.3508, and the Australian and New Zealand dollars at $0.7064 and $0.5879. That subdued tone followed narrow Tokyo trading a day earlier, when dollar-yen moved between ¥159.21 and ¥159.30 and exporter selling helped cap further gains. Markets largely shrugged off renewed attacks on shipping routes in the Middle East even as Brent crude rose 0.6% to $89.40 a barrel, and attention centered on whether U.S. price data will clarify the Federal Reserve's next move after a soft jobs report and a recent press conference by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh failed to settle expectations. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said policymakers were more concerned about high inflation than labor-market weakness, while Fed funds futures showed a 52% chance rates remain unchanged at the Sept. 16 meeting and a 48% chance of a quarter-point increase. Traders were also watching a meeting called by New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon amid speculation over his leadership, while bitcoin slipped 0.2% to $63,554.30 and ether eased 0.1% to $1,879.62.