The US government shutdown has meant a dearth of official economic data this month, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics rallied enough of its staff to release its September Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, and it turned out better than expected.
The CPI rose 0.3% month over month compared to economists’ expectations of 0.4% and August’s 0.4% increase. On a year-on-year basis, the CPI rose 3.0%, compared to forecasts of 3.1% and 2.9% in August.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% month-on-month versus expectations of 0.3% and 0.3% in August. Year-over-year core CPI was 3.0%, compared to 3.1% expected and 3.1% in August.
bitcoin Added to previous gains immediately after the report, it is now trading at $111,600.
In traditional markets, US stock index futures also added to earlier gains: the Nasdaq 100 is now up just 1%. The 10-year Treasury yield fell two basis points to 3.97% and the dollar weakened a hair.
Ahead of the inflation data, traders had already priced in a roughly 100% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut at next week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting, according to CME FedWatch. Markets also anticipated about a 90% chance of an additional 25 basis point interest rate cut at the Fed’s last meeting of the year in December.
