Market Wire, North America

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure decelerated as expected in February, leaving central bank policy expectations largely unchanged. Data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis this morning showed the core personal consumption expenditures index rising 0.3 percent in February from the prior month, but January’s number was revised higher to 0.5 percent, bringing the three-month annualized pace up to 2.6 percent – still within the central bank’s target range but headed in the wrong direction. On a year over year basis, base effects saw core price growth stabilising at 2.8 percent, the same as in January, and closely aligned...

For a fifth consecutive meeting, the US Federal Reserve’s policy committee held benchmark borrowing costs at a 23-year high, but policymakers raised inflation forecasts and lowered the number of rate cuts expected in the years ahead – suggesting that the risk of a re-acceleration in price growth continues to take precedence over signs of incipient economic weakness in driving the central bank’s reaction function.  In a broadly unchanged statement, the Federal Open Market Committee said it “does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward...