Investing.com - Consumer price inflation in the U.S. rose in line with expectations in October, while prices excluding food and energy costs inched up modestly, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer prices increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, matching forecasts and following a fall of 0.2% in September.
Year-over-year, consumer prices were 0.2% higher from the same month a year earlier, compared to expectations for a 0.1% increase and after holding flat in September.
Consumer prices, excluding food and energy costs, increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, meeting expectations. Core consumer prices rose 0.2% in September.
Core CPI increased at annualized rate of 1.9% last month, in line with expectations and unchanged from the prior month.
Core prices are viewed by the Federal Reserve as a better gauge of longer-term inflationary pressure because they exclude the volatile food and energy categories. The central bank usually tries to aim for 2% core inflation or less.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0657 from around 1.0671 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5192 from 1.5206 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 123.35 from 123.23 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 99.69, compared to 99.56 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 60 points, or 0.34%, at the open, the S&P 500 futures indicated a rise 6 points, or 0.27%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures increased 14 points, or 0.31%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,078.10 a troy ounce, compared to $1,080.50 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $41.12 a barrel from $41.34 earlier.