Dollar Little Changed after CPI

2026-02-13 13:53 By Agna Gabriel 1 min. read

The dollar index held steady around 97 on Friday, moving sideways for a fourth straight session after softer inflation data reinforced expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.

The annual headline inflation rate slowed to 2.4% last month, down from 2.6% in each of the previous two months and below forecasts of 2.5%.

On a monthly basis, inflation eased to 0.2%, compared with expectations that it would remain steady at 0.3%.

Markets are pricing the Federal Reserve to hold rates in March before delivering two 25-basis-point cuts later this year.

Recent data showed US payrolls rose by the most in more than a year and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell, signaling a stabilising labor market.

Over the week, the dollar is set to decline more than 2% against the yen, following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s decisive election win and fresh verbal interventions from Tokyo.

The Australian dollar also posted strong gains amid hawkish signals from the Reserve Bank of Australia.



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