US CPI Inflation Falls Sharply To 3% in June

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday released the report of the latest inflation numbers for United States that fell to 3 per cent in June 2023 marking the 12th consecutive month of decline and the lowest number since March 2021. In May the number was at 4 per cent where as the expectations was at 3.1 per cent.

The decline in inflation in June was due to a large base effect from last year when the jump in energy and food costs pushed headline inflation to a 1981 high of 9.1 per cent. In the last month the energy index fell to 16.7 per cent whereas the food index jumped 5.7 per cent.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers saw a rise of 0.2 per cent in June on a seasonally adjusted basis after it rose 0.1 per cent in May. In the last one year, the all item index jumped 3 per cent before seasonal adjustments.

The all items index rose 3 per cent in the last one year, which is the smallest 12-month increase since the period ending March 2021.

Markets react to CPI data

US markets trade higher on Wednesday for the third consecutive day after a surprisingly benign US inflation report. The report also raised hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon end its tightening cycle. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent at 34,347.43, the S&P 500 closed 0.7 per cent higher at 4,472.16 and Nasdaq Composite rose 1.2 per cent at 13,918.96.

Taking cue from the US markets the Asian stock markets were also trading higher on Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 401.89 points to 19,262.84, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 392.71 points to 32,336.64, South Korea's KOSPI saw a jump of 26.65 points at 2,601.37 and GIFT Nifty exchange was comparatively flat after it lost 0.50 points to trade at 19,564.50.