U.S. December consumer prices 2.9% year-on-year ↑...to meet expectations

The U.S. consumer price index rose 2.9% last month from a year ago, in line with expert expectations compiled by Dow Jones, which will determine the direction of the U.S. benchmark rate cut.

The U.S. Labor Department said the consumer price index rose 0.4% last month from the previous month, beating expert forecasts of 0.3%.

Excluding volatile energy and food products, the core consumer price index rose 3.2% from a year ago, below expectations of 3.3%, and rose 0.2% month-on-month to below expectations of 0.3%.

Wall Street is responding positively to the news that core consumer price index growth has slowed and is lower than expert expectations, believing the possibility of a key rate cut has increased.

However, as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said he will keep interest rates high until inflation reaches the 2% target, some predict that it will be difficult for rates to go down later this month.