Market Wire, North America

Underlying US consumer inflation softened more than expected last month, essentially eliminating market-implied odds on one more move in the Federal Reserve’s tightening cycle, and sending global yields lower. According to data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning, the core consumer price index – with highly-volatile food and energy prices excluded – rose 4.0 percent in October from the same period last year, up 0.2 percent on a month-over-month basis. This was weaker than consensus estimates among economists polled by the major data providers ahead of the release – which were set at 4.1 and 0.3 percent,...

For a second consecutive meeting, the US Federal Reserve’s policy committee held its benchmark interest rate at a 22-year high and held out the possibility of further hikes if inflation pressures fail to ease. After 11 increases since March 2022, the target range for the federal funds rate was maintained between 5.25 and 5.5 percent. In a largely-unchanged statement, officials acknowledged an acceleration in growth, upgrading the economic expansion from “solid” to “strong”. Language which previously noted job creation had “slowed” was revised to say it had “moderated”. Policymakers retained optionality to deliver another hike, preserving a sentence that referred...