Fed's Bullard still wants to cut short bond buys

LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 18 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve might consider stopping short of a full $600 billion in bond purchases given improving economic data and firmer inflation, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said.

"Inflation expectations are coming up and actual inflation is moving up so maybe we don't quite need as much QE2 as we thought we did in November," Bullard told reporters after a speech. "I don't know if I can rally any support for this or not.

The Fed's policy is known as a second round of quantitative easing, or QE2. (Editing by James Dalgleish)