(Reuters) -Financial market bets rose that the Federal Reserve could start interest-rate cuts as soon as this month after Fed Chair Jerome Powell, asked if July was too soon to consider rate cuts, said he "can't say" but that the decision would depend on the economic data. 

Short-term interest-rate futures pointed to about a one-in-four chance of a rate cut by the Fed's July 29-30 meeting after the comments at a central banking conference in Sintra, Portugal, up from less than one-in-five from earlier. A rate cut by September is seen as virtually certain, with two more rate cuts expected by yearend, based on market pricing.