US RATE FUTURES-Boost gains on GDP, inflation data

(Reuters) - Futures show an 82 percent chance the Fed will ease by
year-end , up from 76 percent overnight. Before
Thursday's rally prospects for a Fed cut this year were below
50 percent.




U.S. second-quarter real GDP growth was reported at 3.4
percent against the consensus Wall Street forecast of 3.2
percent.


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UPDATE 1-U.S. 2007 first-quarter GDP growth 0.7 pct

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, June 28 - The U.S. economy grew at a
0.7 percent annual pace in the first three months of this year,
the weakest in more than four years as businesses sold off
inventories but consumer spending remained strong, a Commerce
Department report on Thursday showed.




It was the weakest quarterly expansion in gross domestic
product, or GDP, since the fourth quarter of 2002 but slightly
better than the government's earlier 0.6 percent estimate for
growth during the quarter. Still, it was a tad weaker than the
0.8 percent growth economists were expecting.


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US RATE FUTURES-Fretting over GDP inflation component

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, June 28 - U.S. short-term interest rate
futures extended losses slightly on Thursday as dealers focused
on upwardly revised inflation readings in the final
first-quarter GDP report.




"The higher inflation is what folks are focusing on. It's a
little disconcerting," said Mark Vitner, economist at Wachovia
Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.


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US RATE FUTURES-Hold at lower levels on GDP, claims

(Reuters) - The Commerce Department said first-quarter U.S. GDP growth
was 0.7 percent, annualized, up from 0.6 percent reported
earlier but below Wall Street's consensus forecast of 0.8
percent. Jobless claims fell modestly.




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South Africa's First-Quarter Current Account Deficit Narrows to 7% of GDP

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's current account
deficit narrowed less than expected in the first quarter,
reaching 7 percent of gross domestic product, threatening to
undermine the rand.

The shortfall in the trade of goods and services abroad
narrowed from 7.8 percent of GDP in the fourth quarter, the
Pretoria-based central bank said in its Quarterly Bulletin
today. The gap was expected to reach 6.6 percent, according to
the median estimate of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News