TOKYO, July 14 (Reuters) - The dollar held steady on Tuesday ahead of U.S. inflation data after Middle East tensions pushed up oil prices, while the yen remained under pressure amid anticipation of possible intervention by authorities to support it.

The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, settled at 101.27.

The focus remains on inflation data, with the release of the US Consumer Price Index for June due on Tuesday and the Producer Price Index for June due the following day, as well as Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh’s first semiannual testimony before Congress.

Concerns about escalating tensions between the United States and Iran have resurfaced, with President Donald Trump saying on Monday that Washington would reimpose a naval blockade on Tehran and ensure the Strait of Hormuz remains open in exchange for fees, following a new exchange of missile and drone strikes.

Oil prices surged more than 9% to a one-month high on Monday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude futures both climbed more than 2% to their highest levels since mid-June in early trading on Tuesday.

The euro was steady against the dollar at $1.1383, while the pound sterling traded at $1.3347.

The Japanese yen remained almost unchanged against the dollar at 162.40 yen to the dollar, putting traders back on alert for possible intervention by authorities in Tokyo, as the Japanese currency continues to hover near its lowest levels in 40 years.

The Japanese yen weakened against the dollar on Monday after Reuters reported that Tokyo has no imminent plans to change the asset allocation in government pension funds, easing expectations of near-term support for domestic assets.

The yen and Japanese bonds rose on Friday after Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the government would look for ways to encourage pension funds, including the Government Pension Investment Fund, to increase their investments in Japanese financial assets.

The Australian dollar was last trading at $0.6915 against the US dollar. The New Zealand dollar rose 0.24 percent against the US dollar to $0.5762.

Regarding cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin rose 0.23 percent to $62,293.66, and Ether increased 0.56 percent to $1,775.54.