- The US core personal consumption expenditures price index slowed in April to 0.2% on a monthly basis, in line with expectations, which gives more hope for the possibility of a rate cut this year.
- According to data released yesterday, Friday, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, which excludes energy and food prices and is the Fed's preferred inflation measure, held steady on an annual basis in April at 2.8%, also in line with expectations.
- Economists see the core index as a better gauge of inflation than the headline index, which rose 0.3% from March and 2.7% from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg.
- Official data released on Thursday showed that the US economy grew by 1.3% year-on-year in the January-March period, down from a previous estimate of 1.6%, after downward revisions to consumer spending. This is also encouraging data for the US Federal Reserve to start easing monetary policy this year.