The dollar steadied on Wednesday in the wake of more strong U.S. economic data, nudging the Japanese yen closer to a test of levels that drew official market intervention back in 2022. The yen traded at 151.52 per dollar early in the Asia session, within a whisker of 151.94 where Japanese authorities stepped in during October 2022 to buy the currency. For the quarter ending later this week the yen is the worst-performing major, down more than 7% on the dollar even after Japan's exit last week from negative interest rates. Officials have been making near daily warnings against speculative moves and markets are jittery about a test of 152 per dollar as Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Japan won't rule out any steps if it thinks the yen is falling too fast. China set a firm onshore fixing for the yuan, as it leans against market selling pressure that sent the currency down sharply to a four-month low on Friday. It was steady at 7.25 per dollar in offshore trade on Tuesday. Australian data published in the morning showed inflation holding at a two-year low of 3.4% in February, reinforcing market wagers that the next move in interest rates would be down. The Aussie slipped 0.1% to $0.6525. It is down 4.3% for the quarter. Other morning moves in Asia were marginal with markets waiting for Friday's release of U.S. core inflation data. Overnight data showed a bigger-than-expected jump in U.S. durable goods orders in February. While that only partly made up for a large drop in January and came with sub-par consumer confidence data, it pushed the dollar up a little bit. The euro , at $1.0829 is more or less in the middle of a range it has kept for a year and is down 1.9% for a quarter where expectations for U.S. rate cuts have been scaled back. On Tuesday Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann said she changed her mind to vote for a rate hold last week, instead of a hike, due to consumers turning more stingy. But she still believes financial markets have too many cuts priced in. Rate cut expectations have weighed the New Zealand dollar , which was clinging on to $0.60 in Asia trade having fallen 5% against the dollar through the quarter. New Zealand's Treasury revised its economic growth forecasts lower on Tuesday.