Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was broadly steady on Friday after an inflation gauge closely monitored by the Federal Reserve potentially bolstered the central bank’s case for taking a wait-and-see approach to future interest rate cuts.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its currency rivals, rose by 0.1% to 107.31 in early U.S. trading, as investors also kept an eye on tariff remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump. The euro firmed slightly against the dollar, while sterling weakened marginally.
PCE in focus
The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index ticked up by 0.3% last month, according to data from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis on Friday. The figure was in line with December’s pace, which was itself the largest increase since April 2024.
In the 12 months through January, PCE inflation eased slightly to 2.5% from 2.6%, meeting economists’ estimates.
Stripping out food and energy, so-called core PCE inflation came in at 2.6% year-on-year, cooling from 2.9% in December and equaling predictions. The initial December gauge was at 2.8%. On a monthly basis, core PCE accelerated marginally to 0.3% from 0.2%, also meeting forecasts.
Meanwhile, consumer spending, which accounts for a large bulk of U.S. economic activity, dropped by 0.2% following an upwardly-revised expansion of 0.8% in December. Analysts had seen the number increasing by 0.2%.
The Fed, which keeps particularly close tabs on the PCE data, pushed pause on a cycle of interest rate reductions at its last meeting in January, partly citing concerns around the possible impact of Trump’s import tariff and immigration plans on inflation. The central bank had slashed borrowing costs by 100 basis points to a range of 4.25% to 4.5% in a series of gatherings late last year. It had hiked rates by a sharp 5.25 percentage points in 2022 and 2023 in a bid to stamp out elevated price pressures.
(Ayushman Ojha contributed reporting.)