US inflation preview:

US inflation readings in terms of CPI will get released from the United States today at 12:30 GMT.

Why important?

• Fed’s dual mandate is price stability and maximum employment. However, the unemployment rate has now reached 4.7% Percent in the US, which is considered as very close to long-term unemployment level, consistent with Fed’s dual mandate. That leaves inflation to be the most vital mandate for subsequent hikes.

• As inflation expectations increased, the Fed projected three rate hikes for 2017. It has already delivered one is March and is expected to deliver the second at today’s meeting.

• Moreover, inflation numbers will be key determinant of exchange rate divergence among major economies in the coming months and years.

Past trends –

• After staying below FED’s 2 percent target, headline CPI fell to negative territory in the final quarter of 2014. In January CPI fell by -0.7 percent on monthly basis, mostly due to lower energy prices. Yearly CPI fell by -0.1 percent y/y in January.
• Yearly change in CPI has been minimal since then, growing about 0.04 percent per month.
• Yearly CPI growth was +0.7 percent in December, a first sign of comeback. In Mach 2016 it showed further signs of bounce back, with 0.9 percent y/y. Consumer price index was up 1 percent in June 2016 and 0.8 percent in July on a yearly basis. In August it picked up further to 1.1 percent y/y. It rose again in September by 1.5 percent and by 1.6 percent in October. It rose further to 1.7 percent in November. 2016 ended with 2.1 percent y/y inflation. Headline consumer price growth reached 2.5 percent in January this year. Last month, it was 2.2 percent y/y. Look at the above chart for greater clarity.
• In addition to that, core CPI has been showing remarkable resilience, monthly growth not falling below zero since February 2010. It ended the year with 2.2 percent growth in prices. Last month, it was at 1.9 percent.
• CPI has reached the highest level since early 2012.

Expectation today –

• CPI is expected to remain at same level on a monthly basis and rise by 2 percent on yearly basis.
• Core CPI is expected to grow at 1.9 percent on yearly basis.

Impact –

• Further firming up of the consumer price index (CPI) is likely to boost the odds of rate hikes for 2017 however, it may fail to provide the necessary boost to the dollar as the focus remains on political tensions in Washington as well as around the world.
• Moreover,  the dollar index is unlikely to stage a major volatile move, ahead of FOMC.