By Rae Wee SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar firmed on Monday after strong consumer spending data pointed to persistent underlying inflation pressure, cooling bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve could flag a slowdown in its aggressive interest rate hikes. Against the Japanese yen, the greenback was 0.44% higher at 148.08, particularly helped by the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) decision to keep ultra-low interest rates on Friday, and BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s still-dovish comments in the face of rising interest rates elsewhere. The dollar moved broadly higher in early Asia trade, and was up more th…