LONDONTOKYO, Jan 12 Reuters The dollar held steady on Friday as traders weighed an ambiguous U.S. inflation report and tensions in the Middle East, where the United States and Britain launched air and sea strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The U.S. dollar index , which tracks the currency against six major peers, was flat at 102.24 on Friday. It has risen around 0.9 this month as U.S. data has come in stronger than expected, after falling 2 in 2023.

U.S. consumer prices increased in December as rents continued to rise, edging 0.3 higher for the month and up an annual 3.4, versus economists39; forecast for a 0.2 and 3.2 rise respectively. The dollar climbed after the data but ended Thursday roughly flat.

The euro was little changed at 1.0974 on Friday. It has fallen around 0.6 so far in 2024 after rising 3 last year.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin last stood mostly unchanged at 45,855, having surged to a twoyear high overnight after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday gave the green light to offer ETFs linked to bitcoin.

Traders are pricing in a 68 chance for the Fed39;s first 25 basispoint cut to come in March, according to the CME Group39;s FedWatch Tool, up from 65 on Thursday despite the stronger inflation figures.

There are conflicting drivers at the moment, said Carl Hammer, head of asset allocation at SEB Asset Management. On the one hand we as a house expect risk appetite to do fairly OK… ultimately we think that the dollar will…