Aug 23 Reuters Sterling climbed to a more than twoyear high on the dollar on Friday, on recent signs of strength in the UK economy and dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that sent the dollar sliding against several global currencies.

Britain39;s pound jumped 0.7 to 1.3185, touching its highest since late March 2022. It surpassed a previous 13month high of 1.3144.

The dollar index , that tracks the greenback39;s performance against six major currencies, dropped 0.5 after Powell said the time has come to adjust policy and promised to do all he can to avoid further weakening of labour markets.

I think initially the market is really going to be dovish, taking interest rates down and taking the dollar down, said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex.

Following Powell39;s remarks, traders priced in a bigger chance of a supersized 50 basis point rate cut at the U.S. central bank39;s September meeting.

Sterling has been among the top performing major currencies this year, picking up steam in the last two months after a slew of strongerthanexpected economic data suggested the BoE need not be in a rush to cut interest rates.

Latest numbers showed British consumer confidence held at an almost threeyear high in August. A survey on Thursday showed UK business activity accelerated in August and cost pressures eased to their weakest in over three years.

The latest milestone for sterling marks a turnaround since late 2022 when…