By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar was on the defensive early on Wednesday after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell bolstered wagers on an interest rate cut this month. The greenback had lost ground to the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc on Tuesday as Washington and Beijing traded volleys in a simmering tariff spat. The euro had also gained on the dollar after the French government proposed suspending landmark pension reforms. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against those three peers along with three others, was flat at 99.055 as of 0011 GMT, after declining 0.2% in the prior session. The greenback was steady at 151.80 yen, following a 0.3% slide on Tuesday, and was little changed at 0.8013 franc, having dropped 0.3% overnight. The euro held

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