Traders lighten bets on Fed rate cuts, still eye June start

(Reuters) -Traders on Friday continued to pull back from bets on aggressive Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts this year, as the closely-followed University of Michigan surveys of consumer sentiment showed confidence and inflation expectations deteriorating further in late March and early April.

Prices of interest-rate futures continue to reflect expectations that the U.S. central bank will start reducing its policy rate in June, though with less certainty than earlier, with the market-indicated probability around 75%, versus more than 80% earlier in the day. Traders see the Fed delivering three rate cuts in total over the course of the year, pulling back from bets on a fourth rate cut.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir, Editing by William Maclean)

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