Investing.com - Consumer price inflation (CPI) rose more than expected in August, increasing pressure from the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer prices gained 0.2% in August from a month earlier, compared to expectations for a 0.1% gain and a flat reading in the previous month.
Year-over-year, consumer prices increased 1.1%, above expectations for a gain of 1.0% and after having risen 0.8% in July.
Consumer prices, excluding food and energy costs, increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% last month, above forecasts for a 0.2% rise and compared to the 0.1% advance seen in July.
Core CPI increased at annualized rate of 2.3% in August, above prior month’s reading and the consensus forecast of 2.2%.
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.
After the report, the dollar strengthened. EUR/USD was trading at 1.1201 from around 1.1223 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3154 from 1.3171 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 102.07 from 101.87 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 95.62, compared to 95.48 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures fell 65 points, or 0.36%, the S&P 500 futures lost 8 points, or 0.39%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 15 points, or 0.30%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,314.15 a troy ounce, compared to $1,316.85 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $43.07 a barrel from $43.19 earlier.