Powell calls March unlikely, spurring shift in wagers to May
Yen firm after US yields drop on regional bank worries
Sterling falls before Bank of England policy decision
Crown weakens after Riksbank meeting

TOKYOLONDON, Feb 1 Reuters The euro hit a sevenweek low on Thursday as the dollar rose after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pushed back against bets of a U.S. rate cut as soon as March, and as traders processed market jitters about U.S. regional lenders.

The euro fell to 1.0780, its lowest since Dec 13, and was last down 0.2 at 1.07975, while the pound lost 0.3 to 1.2649 ahead of a Bank of England policy decision later in the day.

That left the U.S. dollar index which measures the currency against a basket of six major peers including the euro, yen and British pound up 0.06 at 103.68

It remains close to the recent high of 103.82 touched on Monday of this week and Tuesday of last week, and previously not seen since Dec. 13.

The dollar has been buoyed by U.S. economic data suggesting the Fed can wait longer before cutting interest rates, and Powell gave the currency another push overnight by calling a cut in March not the base case.

I don39;t think it39;s likely the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting to ease policy, but that39;s to be seen, Powell said at a news conference after Fed officials left rates unchanged but dropped a longstanding reference to possible further hikes in borrowing costs.

The objectives…