(Reuters) -The Federal Reserve will likely deliver quarter-point interest rate cuts at each of its next three meetings, traders bet on Friday after a U.S. government report showed consumer inflation rose a little less than expected last month.
The Consumer Price Index climbed 3.0% in the 12 months through September, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday, a tick up from its 2.9% increase in August but below the 3.1% expected by economists polled by Reuters.
That may give even the central bank’s more hawkish policymakers comfort that continuing to ease borrowing costs to support the labor market won’t reignite inflation, analysts said.
“As odd as it may seem, the Fed will be happy with inflation staying around 3% for the next couple of months,” said Olu Sonola, Fitch Ratings’ head of U.S. economic research.
Futures contracts that settle to the Fed’s policy rate reflected near-100% certainty that the Fed will cut its policy-rate range to 3.75%-4.00% at its meeting next week, and a 95% chance of a further cut in December. After the softer-than-expected September inflation reading, traders put about a 55% chance on another rate cut at the Fed’s January meeting, up from less than 50% previously.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir, Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Andrea Ricci )
Comments