PT Solid Gold Berjangka | Dollar Steady as Markets Assess Higher-Than-Expected US CPI
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Solid Gold Berjangka | The dollar held steady against peer currencies on Friday, as investors weighed higher-than-expected U.S. consumer price inflation against market bets that the Federal Reserve will cut rates as soon as March.
U.S. consumer prices increased in December as rents maintained their upward trend, edging 0.3% higher for the month and up an annual 3.4%, versus economists’ forecast in a Reuters poll for a 0.2% gain and 3.2% rise, respectively.
Still, traders are pricing in a 73.2% chance for the first 25 basis point cut to come in March, with several more cuts to follow, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
The dollar index was hovering around 102.26, down from Thursday’s high of 102.76 but well ahead of the five-month low of 100.61 hit in December when traders began to aggressively price in a raft of Fed cuts for this year.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Thursday that the latest CPI figures means that it would likely be too soon for the central bank to cut its policy rate in March.
At a separate event, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said that the data did little to clarify the path of inflation.
The euro stuck around $1.0977 after gaining on the dollar the previous day, while sterling was last trading at $1.277, up 0.07% on the day.
The Japanese yen was little changed at 145.27 per greenback but remained off Thursday’s low of 146.41, its lowest since Dec. 11.
Source : Reuters