Investing.com - Consumer price inflation in the U.S. fell more than expected in January, while prices excluding food and energy costs inched up modestly, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said that consumer prices declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.7% last month, compared to estimates for a decline of 0.6% and following a drop of 0.4% in December.
Year-over-year, consumer prices dipped at an annualized rate of 0.1% in January, in line with expectations and compared to an increase of 0.8% in December.
Consumer prices, excluding food and energy costs, increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in January, above expectations for a 0.1% increase. Core consumer prices were flat in December.
Core CPI increased at annualized rate of 1.6% in January, meeting forecasts and unchanged from December.
Core prices are viewed by the Federal Reserve as a better gauge of longer-term inflationary pressure because they exclude the volatile food and energy categories. The central bank usually tries to aim for 2% core inflation or less.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1305 from around 1.1318 ahead of the release of the data, while GBP/USD was at 1.5484 from 1.5489 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 119.03 from 118.85 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.57, compared to 94.52 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a modestly higher open. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 0.1%, the S&P 500 futures rose 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures tacked on 0.15%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,216.60 a troy ounce, compared to $1,218.00 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $50.17 a barrel from $50.02 earlier.