TOKYO, March 6 Reuters The U.S. dollar was largely steady on Wednesday, as traders avoided making big bets ahead of congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, as well as a European Central Bank rate decision and U.S. jobs data later this week.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was picking up momentum again, although it stayed below a record high reached in a volatile overnight session.

The absence of catalysts kept the dollar in a tight range, having slipped overnight on data showing the U.S. services industry growth slowed a bit last month.

The February U.S. jobs report on Friday stands as a test for the rates outlook, with the potential to rock markets if employment surprises to the upside.

Traders were also waiting on Fed Chair Powell39;s first day of testimony before Congress on the state of the U.S. economy, where he39;s expected to reinforce the Fed will wait for more data before making any rate cuts.

The Fed chief may also echo comments that strong core inflation in January hasn39;t significantly changed the central bank39;s outlook, said Carol Kong, a currency strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

A reiteration of this message is unlikely to alter current market pricing for a June start to the FOMCs rate cut cycle, and should therefore have limited impact on the USD.

Markets have priced in about a 60 chance of a rate cut in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

The dollar index , which measures the greenback39;s strength…