The focus in the New York session on Thursday yesterday was directed to the release of inflation data from the United States (US) which is the main agenda of the market this week.
The latest reading of the consumer price index (CPI) for the month of September has invited mixed reactions in the market, as well as the movement of the US dollar currency.
Looking at the data, US annual inflation in September decreased to 2.4% compared to 2.5% from the previous month, showing that the downward trend in inflation is still continuing.
The decline for 6 consecutive months reached its lowest level since February 2021.
However, the figure fell short of the market target which expected the latest inflation to drop to 2.3%.
Monthly inflation remained unchanged with an increase of 0.2% compared to the forecast to drop to 0.1%.
Core inflation surprised markets as the annual reading rose to 3.3%, beating forecasts to remain at 3.2% as in the previous month.
While monthly core inflation remained at 0.3%, falling short of forecasts to drop to 0.2%.
Following the release of the data, the US dollar showed mixed movements at the start of the New York session, but then began to show consolidation heading into late session trading.
Judging by the latest inflation readings along with the NFP jobs report that was published the previous week, the market is likely to see it quite difficult for the Federal Reserve (Fed) to continue its aggressive policy easing measures as before.
However, a small interest rate cut is still expected to be implemented for the remaining meeting at the end of 2024.
