EUR/USD
1.15820
-0.241%
Gold
5167.73
-0.465%
Oil
85.934
0.818%
USD/JPY
158.607
0.360%
GBP/USD
1.33990
-0.134%
GBP/JPY
212.522
0.270%
Real-time News
March 11 - While inflation met expectations last month, it remained stubbornly high, driven by rising gasoline prices. This inflation report reveals the true state of U.S. consumer prices before the energy cost surge triggered by the Iran war. However, the data released Wednesday was overshadowed by the conflict that erupted following the February 28 U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. Oil prices fluctuated wildly due to the rare blockade of shipping lanes through the Persian Gulf. Gasoline prices have already jumped significantly, and prices are expected to rise further when this months inflation data is released in early April. Laura Rosner-Warburton, senior economist at MacroPolicy Perspectives, predicts that Marchs month-over-month inflation could rise as much as 0.8% or 0.9%, which would be the largest monthly increase in nearly four years, easily pushing the annual inflation rate above 3% and close to 4%.Market news: The US dollar strengthened after the release of US CPI data, and the foreign exchange sentiment index fell to its lowest level of the day.Japans Ministry of Industry and Trade: If an agreement is reached on a coordinated release of oil reserves led by the International Energy Agency, the oil that Japan plans to release will be included in that total.Senator Scott, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said he spoke with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about testifying and recommended that Powell appear in court to testify.On March 11th, analyst Justin Lahart stated that US inflation is largely in line with expectations; the current issue is how long oil prices will remain high. The market is currently focused on the extent of the oil price surge, but for the broader economy, a more important question may be where prices will stabilize within a year. A sharp, rapid reversal can be absorbed, leaving a relatively small lasting impact on inflation readings and allowing the Federal Reserve to refocus on the health of the labor market. However, persistently high oil prices will be difficult to shake off. This is because it will give supply chains time to lock in high costs, squeezing profit margins of companies already burdened by tariffs and leading some companies to consider raising prices for consumers. In this scenario, the Federal Reserve may face a difficult trade-off between trying to control inflation and protecting economic growth.
