Investing.com - Producer price inflation in the U.S. was flat from a month before although other readings, including core prices, came out slightly ahead of estimates, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the Commerce Department said that producer prices were unchanged last month, lower than the forecast for a 0.1% advance and compared to the 0.5% gain seen in April.
Year-over-year, the producer price index (PPI) rose 2.4% in May, compared to expectations for a gain of 2.3% and following a 2.5% increase in the preceding month.
The core producer price index, that excludes food and energy, advanced by 0.3% in May, higher than forecasts for a gain of 0.2% and compared to the prior month’s 0.4% rise.
Core producer prices increased at an annualized rate of 2.1% last month, compared to forecasts for a 2.0% increase and a gain of 1.9% in April.
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. Furthermore, when producers pay more for goods, they are more likely to pass price increases on to the consumer, so PPI could be considered a leading indicator of inflation.
After the report, which was released simultaneously with weekly jobless claims, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1213 from around 1.1218 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.2726 from 1.2734 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 110.13 from 110.00 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 97.02, compared to 96.96 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures moved higher ahead of the market open. The Dow futures gained 0.13%, the S&P 500 futures traded up 0.19%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.37%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,264.29 a troy ounce, compared to $1,265.59 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $45.86 a barrel from $45.91 earlier.