Stocks ease after inflation data leaves Fed outlook unchanged
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON (Reuters) — Global shares and U.S. stock futures eased on Wednesday, shrugging off data that showed a key measure of U.S. inflation cooled in August, as it did little to change the outlook for Federal Reserve monetary policy in the near term.
U.S. stock index futures were last roughly flat on the day, having shown a 0.2-0.3% loss earlier, while dollar eased, after data showed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 3.7% in August, above expectations for a rise of 3.6% and after July's 3.2% rate.
Core inflation, which is of greater concern to the Fed as it strips out food and energy prices, ran at a 4.3% year-on-year rate in August from 4.7% the previous month.
The increase in the headline rate was a function of a surge in the cost of gasoline, in line with the jump in oil prices to their highest in 10 months.
The MSCI All-World index was last down 0.1% on the day, compared with a 0.2% decline ahead of the data, while European stocks were down 0.6%, showing no change on pre-data levels.
«The move higher in headline inflation is a head-fake since it was mostly driven by a huge 10.5% jump in energy commodity prices,» said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management in Wisconsin.
«The head-fake can still be a headache for the Fed as they have to explain why inflation is trending lower despite what people are seeing at the pump,» Jacobsen added.
Markets have ruled out a hike next week, but have been split 50/50 on whether the central bank will raise rates again in November. Wednesday's CPI numbers did not shake that perception.
Treasury yields retreated from the day's highs, leaving the two-year note unchanged at 5.00%, while yields on the 10-year note were last up 3 basis points at
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