TOKYO, June 10 (Reuters) - The dollar held steady against other currencies on Wednesday amid continued market jitters over the latest clash between the United States and Iran, as investors awaited U.S. inflation data for clues on the path of interest rates.

The US military launched strikes on Iranian targets after US President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to retaliate for the downing of a US Apache attack helicopter, in a new escalation that threatens to unravel the fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.

Iranian media quoted the Revolutionary Guard as saying on Wednesday that it had targeted four sites at the Azraq base in Jordan and 21 other targets in the Gulf region in response to US strikes around the Strait of Hormuz.

However, some analysts said the latest exchange of fire did not yet signal a catastrophic escalation in the conflict. Despite the tension and the ceasefire breach, Harry Utley, an economist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note, "Our assessment remains that the war is moving in a de-escalation direction."

The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, recorded a slight decrease of 0.06 percent to 99.95.

The euro rose 0.01 percent to $1.1544 and the pound gained 0.03 percent to $1.338.

The US economy is relatively less affected by energy shocks compared to other countries, which has led investors to flock to the dollar as a safe-haven asset during the Iran war, putting pressure on the euro and the yen.

The Bank of Japan's interest rate hike at its monetary policy meeting scheduled for June 16 has become almost a certainty, and its effect on the currency has already been felt, meaning that it is unlikely that this alone will lead to a major change in the yen's weakening trajectory when the decision is actually announced.

“It will take some hawkish comments from Bank of Japan Governor (Kazuo) Ueda to suggest that the BOJ may bring forward the next rate hike from December to September, with a possible third hike before the end of the year,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG, in a note.

The yen rose 0.01 percent to 160.34 per dollar, continuing to trade near the 160 level, which is widely considered the threshold that warrants government intervention.

Economists polled by Reuters predicted that the Bank of Japan would raise its key interest rate this month and again in the fourth quarter, bringing the rate to 1.25 percent by the end of the year, as it has become more wary of inflation risks than of economic downturn risks.

Later on Wednesday, the United States will release its May consumer price index data, which is crucial in assessing whether the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) will be inclined to raise interest rates later this year following last week's stronger-than-expected jobs report.

"If inflation accelerates this time, expectations of another interest rate hike are likely to strengthen, pushing the dollar higher," said Shu Suzuki, a market analyst at Matsui Securities.

Markets are also awaiting the European Central Bank's next monetary policy meeting on Thursday, where a 25-basis-point interest rate hike is widely expected.

The risk-sensitive Australian dollar fell 0.16 percent to US$0.717. The New Zealand dollar declined 0.05 percent to US$0.5813.