Investing.com – Consumer price inflation (CPI) rose more than expected in August, increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve (Fed) to remove accommodative monetary policy, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer prices rose 0.4% in August from a month earlier, compared to forecasts for 0.3% increase and a 0.1% gain in the prior month.
Year-over-year, consumer prices increased 1.9% last month, above forecasts for a 1.6% increase and compared to the 1.7% advance seen in July.
Consumer prices, excluding food and energy costs, increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, in line with consensus and compared to July’s 0.1% advance.
Core CPI increased at an annualized rate of 1.7% in August, in line with the previous month’s increase but above the consensus estimate for a 1.6% rise.
Core prices are viewed by the Federal Reserve (Fed) 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, which was published simultaneously with weekly jobless claims, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1860 from around 1.1893 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3336, compared to 1.3340 previously, while USD/JPY was at 110.86 from 110.68 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 92.53, compared to 92.30 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures slipped 20 points, or 0.09%, the S&P 500 futures lost 5 points, or 0.20%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 24 points, or 0.40%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,323.02 a troy ounce, compared to $1,327.11 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $49.83, compared to $49.94 prior to the release.