Investing.com - Consumer price inflation (CPI) in the U.S. rose slightly less than expected in May, while the small increase in prices excluding food and energy costs settled in line with forecasts, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer prices rose 0.2% in May from a month earlier, compared to expectations for a 0.3% gain and an increase of 0.4% in April.
Year-over- year, consumer prices were 1.0% higher from the same month a year earlier, below expectations for it to remain at 1.1% gain seen in April.
Consumer prices, excluding food and energy costs, increased as expected in May by a seasonally adjusted 0.2%. Core CPI rose 0.2% in April.
Core CPI increased at annualized rate of 2.2% last month, which was also in line with forecasts and slightly higher than April’s gain of 2.1%.
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, released simultaneously with the weekly jobless claims and Philly Fed manufacturing index, EUR/USD traded at 1.1183, compared to 1.1168 prior to the publication, GBP/USD was at 1.4131 from 1.4125 ahead of the release of the data, while USD/JPY traded at 104.29 versus 104.42 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 95.06, compared to 95.16 before the release.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures pointed to a drop of 80 points, or 0.45%, the S&P 500 futures indicated a decline of 10 points, or 0.50%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures fell 24 points, or 0.54%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,313.65 a troy ounce, compared to $1,311.05 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $47.10 a barrel from $47.17 earlier.