US February Consumer Prices Up 2.8% Year-on-Year... Below Wall Street Expectations

U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) for February rose 2.8% year-on-year. This is the smallest increase since November last year.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor on the 12th (local time), the U.S. February CPI increased 2.8% year-on-year and 0.2% month-on-month. Both figures were slightly below Wall Street analysts' expectations (2.9%, 0.3%).

Core CPI, which excludes food and energy sectors, also rose 3.1% year-on-year and 0.2% month-on-month, both below Wall Street expectations (3.2%, 0.3%). Core CPI also recorded its lowest annual increase since April 2021.

This has led to opinions that the Federal Reserve (Fed) is more likely to continue its accommodative monetary policy. According to Bloomberg, Kay Haigh, global head of Goldman Sachs' credit strategy division, said this CPI indicator shows progress on underlying inflation, adding, "While the Fed is still likely to keep interest rates on hold, easing inflationary pressures suggest a greater likelihood that the Fed will continue accommodative monetary policy."

However, some argued it's still too early to predict the Fed's direction. Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, said, "This indicator release has given the Fed room to cut rates," but added, "Inflation could worsen if tariff policies are implemented. Neither the Fed nor the market can be complacent at this stage."

Bitcoin, which was trading at around $83,361 before the indicator release, momentarily touched $84,539 after the CPI announcement. As of 10:30 PM, Bitcoin is trading at $84,256 on Binance's USDT market, up 3.07% from 24 hours ago.