FOREX-Australian dollar jumps 1 pct after shift in tone from RBA

* Fed chief comments offer little support to USD

* Aussie firms as RBA stands pat as expected

* Sterling rebounds after polls show "In" camp just ahead

By Anirban Nag

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar gained more than 1 percent against its U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . counterpart on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of Australia kept interest rates on hold and appeared to raise the bar on further monetary easing.

The Aussie climbed to $0.7454, its highest since May 6, and rose 1 percent against the yen and the euro. The RBA kept the cash rate at a record low 1.75 percent at its monthly review, after cutting last month for the first time in a year.

While that was expected, many traders were disappointed that the statement did not give an explicit easing bias, resulting in unfavourable bets being unwound and the spot rate being squeezed higher.

"The RBA doesn't appear to be in a rush to cut rates further, leading to a short squeeze in the Australian dollar" said Niels Christensen, FX strategist at Nordea.

The U.S. dollar was subdued, trading not far from four-week lows against a basket of currencies, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen walked a fine line and did not specify whether the Fed will raise rates over the summer months.

The dollar index was a tad soft at 93.832, within sight of Monday's low of 93.745, its weakest since May 11. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) had come under pressure since the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report on Friday showed the slowest job growth in more than five years in May, quashing expectations for a near-term rate hikes.

While Yellen remained relatively optimistic about the overall U.S. outlook and said the Fed would hike rates, she gave no fresh hints about the timing of its next move and called last month's U.S. jobs data "disappointing."

She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) also echoed other Fed officials in saying that the UK referendum this month on whether to stay in the European Union would be a factor in the Fed's decision making. She said a vote for Brexit could have a significant economic impact.

"In the space of a week we have moved from a strong momentum for a June interest rate increase to Yellen hitting the final nail into the coffin with her speech yesterday," said Simon Smith, chief economist at FxPro.

"The Fed has had a poor record over the past two years in trying to guide markets and that's putting it mildly."

Even (Taiwan OTC: 6436.TWO - news) before Yellen spoke, U.S. interest rates futures implied traders had all but priced out any chance the Fed will raise rates at its policy meeting next week. And according to CME Group (Kuala Lumpur: 7018.KL - news) 's Fedwatch, there was only a 26 percent chance of a rate hike in July.

Against the yen, the dollar was slightly higher at 107.70 yen, pulling away from Monday's low of 106.35, its weakest in a month.

The euro edged up 0.1 percent to $1.1370, moving back towards Monday's nearly one-month high of $1.1393, with a revision in first-quarter growth for the euro zone helping at the margins, traders said.

Sterling rose 1 percent to $1.4595, marking a solid rebound after hitting a three-week low on Monday. Two polls in Tuesday's newspapers showed Britons narrowly favour remaining in the EU, in contrast to surveys released on Monday. (Additional reporting by Lisa Twaronite; Editing by Hugh Lawson (Other OTC: LWSOF - news) )