Putin Favors Ruble Traders Over Oil Profits in Battle Against Inflation

(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's
plan to keep inflation from accelerating depends on favoring
foreign-exchange traders over the country's oil and gas
companies.

Putin will probably allow the central bank to double the
ruble's pace of appreciation this year because he has few options
outside the foreign exchange market to rein in consumer prices,
according to strategists at Bank of America Corp. and UBS AG.
Russia's 8.5 percent inflation rate is three times faster than
any other Group of Eight country.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Angola sees sustained economic boom, inflation cut

(Reuters) - Angola's prime minister said on Friday that his government would cut inflation despite an economic boom, whose benefits he insisted ordinary people would feel in a country still recovering from a devastating civil war.

"We are working very hard now and very soon we will bring it to a sustainable rate of a single digit, we are talking of about eight percent before the end of this year," Fernando da Piedade Dias Dos Santos told Reuters in an interview.


Read more at Reuters Africa

TREASURIES-Bond dip on firmer stocks, credit markets

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 31 - U.S. Treasuries eased on
Tuesday as stocks rose for a second day and credit markets
rallied on waning fears over tighter access to funding.




Government bonds were little moved by mixed economic data
that painted a picture of benign inflationary pressures and
slower economic growth, but surprisingly upbeat consumer
sentiment. For details, see [ID:nN30403317], [ID:nN30443227]


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Futures rise before inflation, other data

(Reuters) - Shares of fast-food chain Wendy's International Inc.
will likely be in the spotlight after billionaire
Nelson Peltz said his Triarc Cos. Inc. could offer up
to $41 a share for the company. For details, see
[ID:nN30445780].




The core personal consumption expenditure index, the
Federal Reserve's favorite inflation indicator, is forecast to
have risen 0.2 percent in June, according to economists polled
by Reuters.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Czech Koruna Trades Near 2 1/2-Month High After Bank Raises Interest Rates

(Bloomberg) -- The Czech koruna traded near a 2 1/2-
month high as the central bank raised its main interest rate by
quarter-point, as expected by economists.

The bank's seven-member board raised the 14-day repurchase
rate to 3 percent, still the European Union's lowest. The
increase was the second this year as the bank attempts to quell
accelerating inflation.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Australian Dollar Holds Near 18-Year High on Bets Interest Rates Will Rise

(Bloomberg) -- The Australian dollar traded close
to an 18-year high on bets the central bank will raise the
benchmark interest rate next month.

The currency also climbed the most in almost five months
against the New Zealand dollar after that country's central bank
signaled a rate increase today may be the last. Australia's
dollar has gained the most of the 16 most-active currencies this
month as a report yesterday showed inflation was faster than
expected.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

NY MTA seeks higher fare revenue, regular hikes

(Reuters) - The agency, which also runs buses and collects tolls for tunnels, will seek to raise the revenue by reducing discounts rather raising fares for the first time since 2005. However, it did recommend raising fares and tolls every two years to keep pace with inflation.




Thanks to discounts, New York City subway and bus riders now pay an average of $1.30 per ride -- 70 cents less than the base fare of $2.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

S.Africa June CPIX steady at 6.4 pct y/y

(Reuters) - South Africa's targeted CPIX inflation quickened to 6.4 percent year-on-year in June, the same as in May and slightly above market expectations, official data showed on Wednesday.

Statistics South Africa also said that the all-items consumer price index (CPI) increased by an annual rate of 7.0 percent in June, compared to 6.9 percent in May.


Read more at Reuters Africa

UPDATE 1-Mexico's 28-day Cetes yield steady at 7.19 percent

(Reuters) - Longer-term Cetes yields were higher at the central bank's
weekly auction.




Mexican consumer prices rose 0.25 percent in the first half
of July, nudging 12-month inflation up to 4.08 percent, above
the upper limit of 4 percent the bank considers acceptable.


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FED FOCUS-Slower productivity may be risk to growth

(Reuters) - Lower productivity growth, if permanent, is worrisome for
policy-makers as it could fan inflation through higher wage
costs, potentially prompting a tightening of credit and making
it harder to foster growth.




Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress last week that the
slowdown in productivity growth in recent quarters is likely
temporary, but that the underlying pace of productivity gains
may also have "slowed somewhat."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Japan's Government Bond Futures Gain on Speculation Consumer Prices Fell

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese bond futures rose on
speculation consumer price data this week will reduce the need
for the central bank to raise interest rates next month.

The inflation rate excluding fresh food slowed for a fifth
month in June, according to a survey of economists by Bloomberg
News before the July 27 release. Ten-year notes last week had the
first gain since June as investors sought the relative safety of
government debt because of losses on securities tied to U.S.
mortgages.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Japan's Government Bonds May Gain on Speculation Consumer Prices Dropped

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese bonds may gain on
speculation consumer price data this week will reduce pressure on
the central bank to raise interest rates in August.

The inflation rate excluding fresh food slowed for a fifth
month in June, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News
before the July 27 release. Ten-year notes last week posted the
first gain since June as investors sought the relative safety of
government debt because of losses on securities tied to U.S.
mortgages.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Fed's Moskow: Housing adjustment to be gradual

(Reuters) - Moskow said globalization "cuts both ways" for the U.S.
inflation outlook, with cheaper imports balanced by greater
global demand that is pushing up the prices of certain
materials.




It is "hard to clearly identify" how the two forces balance
each other out, he said.


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TREASURIES-Rally fades ahead of Bernanke encore

(Reuters) - Anxiety over troubled mortgage investments has kept bonds
afloat in recent sessions, briefly pushing benchmark yields
back below 5 percent.




Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reinforced the rally
on Wednesday by zeroing in on subprime or high-risk home loans
in his congressional testimony. Downbeat housing data and
relatively tame inflation figures have also supported bonds.


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Morocco inflation up 2.1 pct in H1 - government body

(Reuters) - Moroccan consumer prices grew 2.1 percent in the first half of this year versus the same period in the previous year on higher food prices, the government's High Planning Commission said on Wednesday.

The inflation rise in the January-June period this year stemmed mainly from a 2.6 percent increase in food prices because of a severe drought that sharply cut farming output, the Commission said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

India Needs `Tight' Monetary Policy to Curb Price Rises, Chidambaram Says

(Bloomberg) -- India will maintain a ``fairly
tight'' monetary policy to curb inflation that may be stoked by
rising crude oil prices and consumer demand, Finance Minister
Palaniappan Chidambaram said.

``We have to do our best to keep inflation down in a world
where fuel prices are flaring up, commodity prices are
increasing and demand remains high in China and India,''
Chidambaram, 61, said in an interview yesterday in New Delhi.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

UPDATE 3-Bernanke: US inflation main worry, housing a risk

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, July 18 - Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday housing market woes
could dampen an expected pickup in U.S. economic growth, but he
restated that the central bank's main worry is inflation.




"Overall, the U.S. economy appears likely to expand at a
moderate pace over the second half of 2007, with growth then
strengthening a bit in 2008 to a rate close to the economy's
underlying trend," he said in semiannual testimony to the House
of Representatives Financial Services Committee.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Dollar Is Little Changed Versus Euro After Bernanke Says Growth to Pick Up

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell against the yen and
euro as the Federal Reserve lowered its forecasts for U.S.
economic growth for this year and next as home building is
weaker than anticipated.

The revisions came as Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, in
semiannual testimony to the House Financial Services Committee,
predicted U.S. economic growth will pick up slightly next year
and inflation will gradually recede. He also said he expects a
slump in construction to continue to ``weigh'' on growth.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Brazil Central Bank May Cut Rate by Half-Point for Second Time This Year

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil's central bank today will
probably lower the benchmark interest rate for a 17th straight
time as the strongest exchange rate in almost seven years keeps
inflation in check.

The seven-member board will lower the overnight rate today
by a half-point to 11.5 percent at its almost monthly meeting in
Brasilia, matching the biggest cut of 2007, according to all 32
economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The bank has slashed the rate
7.75 percentage points from 19.75 percent in September 2005.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Key Democrat questions Fed inflation targets

(Reuters) - Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to deliver semi-annual
monetary policy testimony to Massachusetts Democrat's panel on
Wednesday. The Fed is debating ways to improve its
communications with markets and the public about monetary
policy, including whether to set numerical inflation targets.




Bernanke is expected to say on Wednesday that the U.S.
central bank's predominant current concern is ensuring
inflation remains convincingly low and that problems in the
housing market are not likely to seriously damage the economy.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News