U.S. May wholesale inventories rose 0.5 percent

(Reuters) - Economists polled by Reuters were expecting a 0.4 percent rise in inventories in May.




Sales by wholesalers rose 1.3 percent to $357.17 billion in May following a 1.5 percent gain in April.


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China June trade surplus hits record $26.9 bln

(Reuters) - The result, which easily surpassed economists' expectations of a $24.0 billion gap, was much higher than the previous monthly record of $23.8 billion, set last October.




Economists said the surge was largely due to firms seeking to fill orders before July 1, when value-added tax rebates on a swathe of products were either reduced or scrapped.


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UPDATE 1-U.S. construction spending up 0.9 percent in May

(Reuters) - Economists polled ahead of the report were expecting a much
weaker 0.1 percent rise in the overall construction spending
figure.




Spending on private homebuilding, however, fell 0.8 percent
to a seasonally adjusted $549 billion annual rate, the 15th
consecutive monthly decrease as U.S. housing market troubles
continue.


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China mulls bond sales to buy $200 bln in FX for fund

(Reuters) - Economists expect the new agency to buy foreign exchange directly from the People's Bank of China, which controls China's $1.2 trillion in currency reserves.




Xinhua did not say whether the special treasury bonds, which would be issued by the Ministry of Finance, would be sold directly to the central bank or sold in the domestic market, with the cash raised then used to buy foreign exchange from the PBOC.


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Mexico Bolsa Advances on Tax Plan, Led by America Movil: Chile Ipsa Slips

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's Bolsa index rose for a fourth
day on expectations that President Felipe Calderon has the support
to pass legislation that will boost tax collection and spur
government spending.

``The fact that there's growing consensus that a fiscal reform
is going to be submitted has investors optimistic,'' said analyst
Mauricio Brocado at Actinver SA in Mexico City, after El Economista
reported Calderon will propose a flat 15 percent tax rate and a 2
percent fee on cash deposits in a bill to be presented this week.


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U.S. home builder index extends slide in June: NAHB

(Reuters) - Economists had predicted the index would be unchanged from May's 30 reading, based on a Reuters survey. Readings below 50 mean more builders view market conditions as poor rather than favorable.




"It's clear that the crisis in the subprime sector has prompted tighter lending standards in much of the mortgage market, and interest rates on prime-quality home mortgages have moved up considerably during the past month along with long-term Treasury rates," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders.


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U.S. jobless claims unchanged at 311,000 last week

(Reuters) - The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure of
employment conditions, edged up to 311,250 from 307,500.




The number of workers continuing on benefits fell by 43,000
to 2.49 million for the week ended June 2, the most recent week
these figures were available. Economists were expecting to see
2.51 million continued claims.


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Growth in U.S. to Quicken, Fed Rate Cut Unlikely This Year, Survey Shows

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. economic growth will gradually
pick up through the end of this year, making the Federal Reserve
unlikely to cut interest rates before 2008, according to
economists surveyed by Bloomberg News this month.

Economists now forecast the economy this quarter will
expand at an annual rate of 2.6 percent, compared with 2.2
percent projected last month and a 0.6 percent pace in the first
quarter. The economy will expand at a 2.9 percent rate by the
final three months of 2007, according to the median of 69
estimates in a survey taken from May 30 to June 7.


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Philippine Peso Gains as Economic Growth Quickens; Government Bonds Fall

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippine peso strengthened after
the government said the economy grew faster than predicted in the
first quarter. Government bonds fell.

The currency ended two days of losses after the report
showed gross domestic product expanded 6.9 percent from a year
earlier, as increasing remittances from overseas workers boosted
consumer spending. Economists forecast growth of 5.7 percent,
according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.


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German Consumer Confidence Rises More Than Estimated to a Five-Month High

(Bloomberg) -- German consumer confidence rose to a
five-month high as the economic outlook brightened and households
raised their income expectations.

GfK AG's confidence index for June, based on a survey of
about 2,000 people, rose to 7.3 from a revised 5.7 in May, the
Nuremberg-based market-research company said today. Economists
expected a reading of 6, according to the median of 23 forecasts
in a Bloomberg News survey.


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Mexico's Peso, Local Bonds Fall on Concern Inflation May Have Accelerated

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's 10-year bond fell for a
fourth day, its longest losing streak in two months, on concerns
a central bank inflation report for the first half of the month
may prompt Banco de Mexico to increase lending rates.

The yield on the 10-year maturity rose to its highest since
May 7. Economists expect that today's inflation report for the
first 15 days of May will show annual inflation above the
central bank's 2 percent to 4 percent target range. Policy
makers unexpectedly raised borrowing costs last month to stem
inflation.


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Dollar Increases as U.S. New Home Sales Rise Most in 14 Years During April

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar rose versus the euro after
a government report showed purchases of new homes in the U.S.
exceeded economists' forecasts during April.

Sales rose 16.2 percent, the most in 14 years, to an annual
pace of 981,000 last month, from a revised 844,000 rate in March,
the Commerce Department said in Washington. Economists surveyed
by Bloomberg News had forecast a gain of 0.2 percent to 860,000.


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U.S. April durables orders rose 0.6 pct

(Reuters) - The shift in orders between April and March was due largely to changes in the volatile transportation sector, where orders for both motor vehicles and civilian aircraft fell in April after strong increases in March.




Stripping the transportation goods out, durable goods orders rose by 1.5 percent in April, the same pace as in March after a small upward revision. Economists had forecast that durables orders excluding transportation would rise 0.6 percent in April.


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