US Consumer Prices post biggest annual rise in nearly 40-yr; inflation seen peaking

• Financial

On Wednesday, data from the US Labor Department had unfurled that US Consumer Prices Index (CPI) had climbed robustly last month as Americans had reportedly spent more on rental accommodations and used vehicles, eventually fleshing up optimism that US Federal Reserve would more likely to hike its benchmark borrowing costs by March this year.

US consumer prices surged 7.0 per cent over past twelve months through December, marking off the biggest rise on a year-on-year basis since 1982. Aside from that, latest US Consumer Prices data came against backdrop of last Friday’s Labor Department employment report that had illustrated the US labor market might already have achieved a maximum employment.

Besides, US Fed Chair Jerome Powell had told in a Congressional hearing on yesterday that the US Central Bank had been prepared to take necessary actions to prevail a persistent rise in inflation indicators, while Wednesday’s Consumer Prices data had bolstered analysts’ belief that the US Fed would begin to hike its benchmark overnight lending rate as early as by March as beforementioned.

US Consumer Price Index rose robustly in December; Core inflation picks up

According to data from US Labor Department, US Consumer Prices Index rose 0.5 per cent in December compared to a month earlier, while US Core CPI advanced 0.6 per cent, jumped 5.5 per cent in December compared to the same time a year earlier.

Meanwhile, addressing to an upscaled pressure on US Fed to raise interest rates, a chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance in Charlotte, North Carolina, Chris Zaccarelli said, “The Fed is going to be forced to begin raising rates in March and depending on the political pressure on them – from both sides of the aisle – they are going to have to raise rates four or more times in this year and potentially more than that next year. ”