LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Britain's economy is forecast to grow by 0.8% this year after entering a recession in the second half of 2023, finance minister Jeremy Hunt said in a budget speech on Wednesday that delivered little in the way of surprises for markets.

In what was possibly his last fiscal statement before an election expected this year, Hunt offered voters a raft of tax cuts in a bid to woo them back to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives, slashing the emergency reserves in the public finances to the bone.

The pound showed little reaction, while stocks extended gains. UK bonds or gilts held fairly steady, given the government's borrowing plans for the coming financial year came in broadly in line with expectations, meaning no repeat of the market fireworks that ensued after the interim budget released in September 2022 by then-finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng.

MARKET REACTION:

STOCKS: Britain's mid-cap FTSE 250 index edged higher, up 1.1% on the day, versus a gain of 0.8% prior to Hunt's speech.

FOREX: Sterling rose 0.1% to $1.2716, from $1.2722 earlier. The pound was mostly steady against the euro at 85.48 pence.

FIXED INCOME: Five-year gilt yields rose 1 basis point on the day to 3.993%, little changed on where they were before Hunt's comments.

MONEY MARKETS: Futures markets continued to show a 90% chance the Bank of England could interest rates by August this year.

COMMENTS:

KENNETH BROUX, SENIOR STRATEGIST FX AND RATES, SOCIETE GENERALE, LONDON:

"It was a snooze for the pound and gilts. All was priced in, and the 265-pound gilt issuance is not far off consensus. The government was more upbeat on growth than the Bank of England, but that was to be expected and I don’t think it moves the dial on rate cuts."

"In any case the budget won’t backfire on the pound, yields are steady, that's encouraging and symbolises confidence in public finances, unlike September 2022."

KIRSTINE KUNDBY-NIELSEN, FX ANALYST, DANSKE BANK, COPENHAGEN:

"It was pretty much in line with what we expected. You can see that from the market reaction with gilts and sterling both pretty steady.

"You have to take it with a grain of salt because there will probably be a new government by the end of the year."

COLIN ASHER, SENIOR ECONOMIST, MIZUHO BANK, LONDON:

"There was lots of low level sensible stuff in today's budget but nothing to really move the needle either economically or politically.

"Neither gilts nor sterling showed much reaction, which is unsurprising, given how heavily the bulk of the measures were trailed in advance."

(Reporting by EMEA Markets Team; Compiled by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)