US Core CPI Rises in January on Firmer Services Costs

Speakers

Unnamed Analyst — Financial News Anchor

January Headline CPI rose 0.2% MoM (2.4% YoY), coming in softer than economist expectations.
Core CPI rose 0.3% MoM (2.5% YoY), indicating sticky underlying inflation with "not a whole lot of progress."
Deflationary pressure was driven by Gasoline (-3.2%) and Used Cars (-1.8%), while Food price inflation slowed significantly to 0.2%.

Ticker	Direction	Speaker	Thesis	Time
US CONSUMER	LONG	Unnamed Analyst Political Commentator	"Food prices just rose by 2/10... Big drops down from what we saw in December. Gasoline prices were down 3.2%." Sharp declines in the growth of essential costs (food and energy) increase disposable income for households, which is fundamentally positive for the consumer sector. LONG. Relief in daily living costs supports consumer financial health. If services inflation (Core) continues to rise, it may offset the savings from lower commodity prices.	—
S&P 500	LONG	Unnamed Analyst Political Commentator	"The numbers... are a little bit better than what economists expected... better news there overall for the markets." Softer-than-expected headline inflation data generally reduces fears of hawkish monetary policy, providing a tailwind for broad equity markets. LONG. The speaker explicitly characterizes the report as "better news" for the markets. Core CPI rising 0.3% suggests services inflation remains sticky ("not getting a whole lot of progress"), which could cap market enthusiasm.	—