Annual inflation rate in the US rose to 1.4% in December from 1.2% in the previous month and above market expectations of 1.3%.The rate remains well below 2.3% in February before the coronavirus pandemic hit. On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 0.4%, higher than 0.2% in November and in line with expectations, mainly driven by an 8.4% increase in the gasoline index, which accounted for more than 60% of the overall rise. The other components of the energy index were mixed, resulting in an increase of 4.0 percent for the month. The food index rose in December, as both the food at home and the food away from home indexes increased 0.4%.
US core consumer price inflation, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, was unchanged at 1.6% in December the same as in November and in line with market expectations of 1.6 %.
EURUSD saw a relatively small reaction to today’s data releases. The most popular currency pair continued to trade around the 1.2170 level. Source: xStation5
