Growth in core personal consumption expenditure (PCE), which strips out energy and food components, is the US Fed’s preferred measure of inflation and the latest release had core PCE at 1.6% for the last 12 months and 0.1% higher than a month ago. In both case, the numbers were as expected and local banks had very little to say about them except for NAB which said the figures did not add “a whole lot to what we learned from Q1 (GDP) data.”
Last month CBA said February PCE figures would lessen the FOMC’s inclination to raise US official rates in a hurry. This latest batch of figures for March is unlikely to change that view. US ten year bonds finished the day 1bp higher at 1.83%.