Investors are paying extra close attention to the Federal Reserve this week in anticipation of the U.S. central bank’s next move. Data released Friday showed the core consumer price index (CPI)—a measure of underlying U.S. inflation—rose to a 2.2 percent annualized rate in January, the highest in nearly four-and-a-half years, according to Reuters. The number was above the Fed’s 2 percent target. While market participants initially came into 2016 anticipating three or four interest rate hikes through the year, their sentiments had shifted in light of weak inflation and global volatility. Earlier this month, investors were viewing the Fed as unlikely to raise rates in March and possibly not even for the rest of the year. Now, the stronger-than-anticipated CPI is shifting the market’s expectations again. Shortly after the data came out, the dollar rose alongside Treasury yields. Personal consumption expenditures being released this Friday could confirm or outweigh the trend in the CPI reading, the article states. To read more, click here.
