U.S. consumer prices increased by less than expected on an annualized basis in July, increasing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates at its next meeting in September.
The Labor Department's consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.9% last month, decelerating slightly from 3.0% in June. Economists had predicted that the figure would match June's rate.
Month-on-month, the reading climbed to 0.2% after actually falling 0.1% last month, matching expectations.
Stripping out more volatile items like food and fuel, the "core" number climbed by 3.2% in the twelve months to July, below projections of 3.3%. On a monthly basis, underlying price growth inched up to 0.2%, after rising 0.1% in June.
"The 0.15% m/m increase in all-items CPI and the 0.18% m/m increase in core CPI in July suggest that the disinflationary trend has firmly reasserted itself, after the temporary relapse in the first quarter," said analysts at Capital Economics, in a note.
"Overall, July’s CPI report is probably best described as mildly encouraging – it adds support for a 25bp rate cut in September but, at the same time, doesn’t suggest price pressures are collapsing in a way that could warrant a bigger 50bp reduction,” said Capital Economics.
This release followed Tuesday’s cooler-than-expected July producer price index, and confirms the generally benign inflationary pressures, which could allow the U.S. central bank to cut its policy rate from the 5.25%-5.50% range it has been in for more than a year.
The benchmark stock indices on Wall Street have traded in a mixed fashion Wednesday, after the previous session's sharp gains, with the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average around 0.2% higher while the broad-based S&P 500 and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite trading marginally lower.
"Feels like today’s print was pre-traded with yesterday’s PPI," said analysts at JPMorgan, in a note, "and with the disinflation story intact, tomorrow’s retail sales [number] is necessary to assuage (or confirm) growth concerns."
The payrolls report at the start of the month showed that U.S. jobs growth slowed more than expected in July, heightening fears that the labor market is deteriorating and potentially making the economy vulnerable to a recession.
