LONDON, March 7 Reuters The pound edged up on Thursday, after UK finance minister Jeremy Hunt39;s spring budget offered a raft of tax cuts, but little in the way of surprises for the market, leaving more focus on the direction of the U.S. dollar.

Sterling rose 0.2 to 1.276, its highest in around a month, and nudged into positive territory against the euro, to 85.40 pence.

In his budget on Wednesday, Hunt trimmed national insurance contributions by 2 pence in the pound but stuck to a fiscally cautious mandate that eased anxiety about Britain39;s 3 trillion debt burden, boosted consumer stocks and helped the pound stay robust against other major currencies.

The firmness in sterling by Thursday was less a product of the UK fiscal outlook and more that of a decline in the dollar after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told lawmakers rate cuts will likely be appropriate later this year if the economy evolves broadly as expected.

His comments suggested the central bank might be more comfortable with lower rates over the course of this year as long as inflation continues to trend lower, analysts said.

The budget certainly wasn39;t the reason Sterling hit its best level against the dollar for a month yesterday, Caxton FX strategist David Stritch said.

That was more to do with Chair Powell39;s testimony on Capitol Hill, where the head of the world39;s most important central bank took an evenhanded approach, he said.

Next week brings a raft of UK data, including…