Traders continue to see Fed rate cut likely by July

May 7 (Reuters) - Traders on Wednesday maintained bets the Federal Reserve is likely to wait until July to cut interest rates, after the central bank said it kept short-term borrowing costs unchanged, as expected.

Futures contracts tied to the Fed's policy rate pared earlier losses after the announcement, and now put the probability of a quarter-point rate cut as soon as June at a slightly stronger-than-earlier 30%, versus about 27% previously. A rate cut by July, based on futures prices, is priced at about a 75% chance.