Aussie, kiwi slip in Asia trade
Dollar seen as a haven as growth clouds gather
Fed expected to hike 75 bps on Wednesday

SINGAPORE, July 25 Reuters The dollar was on a firm footing on Monday, as traders braced for a sharp U.S. interest rate hike this week and looked for safety as data points to a weakening global economy.

The greenback was up slightly against most majors in the Asia session, trading at 1.0208 on the euro and steadying Friday losses to buy 136.26 Japanese yen .

The U.S. Federal Reserve concludes a twoday meeting on Wednesday and markets are priced for a 75basispoint bp rate hike, with about a 9 chance of a 100 bp hike.

Market reaction will turn on how hawkish Chair JeromePowell sounds with his determination to reduce inflation in the face of slowing growth, said National Australia Bank currency strategist Rodrigo Catril.

The slowdown has driven traders to pull back on tightening expectations, worried a wobbly economy can only withstand so many rate rises, but investors are yet to take the dollar down too far from milestone highs given the global outlook is so clouded.

The U.S. dollar index steadied at 106.650 on Monday, just below a twodecade high made in mid July at 109.290 and analysts don39;t see much in the way of hurdles to the dollar ahead.

That notion found currency in data on Friday, which showed business activity in the United States contracted for the first time in nearly two years this month, activity in the euro zone retreated for…