Aug 19 (Reuters) - Sterling touched a one-month high against the dollar on Monday, as growing bets around U.S. interest rate cuts pushed the greenback lower against other major currencies.

Investors are awaiting speeches from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey on Friday at the central bankers' gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for clues on the outlook for monetary policies in the U.S. and UK.

Expectations of a dovish tilt in minutes of the Fed's July meeting, due on Wednesday, and Powell's upcoming speech pushed the dollar to a seven-month low against major currencies.

The pound in turn was up 0.2% at $1.2963, after earlier in the session touching a one-month high of $1.2975.

"The bulls will be eyeing the 1.3000 level, as they will the 17 July highs of 1.3044. Volatility markets suggest a break of 1.3044 through the week is a 12% probability," noted Chris Weston, head research at broker Pepperstone.

Against the euro , sterling touched a more than two-week high of 85.09 pence per euro. It was last at 85.15 pence

The British currency has rebounded 2.3% since touching a one-month low of $1.2666 on Aug. 8, helped by a recovery in broader market sentiment as well as data pointing to momentum in the UK economy and easing inflation.

Money markets show traders are pricing in a 39% chance of the BoE cutting rates by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.75% in September, and see rate cuts of 44 bps by the end of this year. The BoE cut rates from a 16-year high of 5.25% at the start of this month.

August PMI readings on Thursday could offer fresh clues on the state of UK business activity.

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/sterling-hits-one-month-high-fed-rate-cut-bets-weigh-dollar-2024-08-19/