LONDON—The dollar steadied above almost two-month lows against its major peers on Wednesday, ahead of data expected to show a fresh surge in U.S inflation that could seal the case for an early rise in interest rates. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday gave no clear indication that the Fed was in a rush to speed up plans for tightening monetary policy, putting some downward pressure on the greenback which has benefited from U.S. rate-hike expectations in recent weeks. And the currency started to nudge higher again as the December U.S. consumer price index (CPI), due out at 1330 GMT, loomed. The dollar index was last trading at 95.643, steady on the day above the 95.533 low hit during the Asian session, the lowest since Nov. 18. Headline U.S. CPI is forecast at a red-hot 7 percent on a year-on-year basis, which would be the highest annual CPI number …