Investing.com - Producer price inflation in the U.S. fell for the first time in five months in September, while core prices inched down unexpectedly, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the Commerce Department said that producer prices declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% last month, worse than forecasts for a drop of 0.2% and after holding flat in August.
Year-over-year, the producer price index declined 1.1%, compared to expectations for a fall of 0.7% and following a drop of 0.8% in the preceding month.
The core producer price index eased down by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in September, disappointing forecasts for a gain of 0.1% and following a rise of 0.3% a month earlier.
Core producer prices rose at an annualized rate of 0.8% last month, below expectations for 1.2% and after rising 0.9% in the preceding 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.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1439 from around 1.1410 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5417 from 1.5379 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 119.41 from 119.64 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.32, compared to 95.53 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 0.1%, the S&P 500 futures ticked up 0.1%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.1%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,171.40 a troy ounce, compared to $1,164.40 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $46.74 a barrel from $46.69 earlier.