Investing.com - Producer price inflation in the U.S. dropped in February, while core prices remained flat, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the Commerce Department said that producer prices fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, in line with the forecast for a 0.2% decline and after a 0.1% increase in January.
Year-over-year, the producer price index (PPI) was flat, compared to expectations for an increase of 0.1% and following a drop of 0.2% in the preceding month.
The core producer price index, that excludes food and energy, was also flat in February, below forecasts for a gain of 0.1% and following a rise of 0.4% a month earlier.
Core producer prices rose at an annualized rate of 1.2% last month, above expectations for 1.1% advance and after rising 0.6% in the preceding month.
Core prices are viewed by the Federal Reserve as a better gauge of longer-term inflationary pressure because they exclude the volatile food and energy categories. Furthermore, when producers pay more for goods, they are more likely to pass price increases on to the consumer, so PPI could be considered a leading indicator of inflation.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1112 from around 1.1107 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4163 from 1.4169 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 112.69 from 112.86 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 96.61, compared to 96.62 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures dropped 0.55%, the S&P 500 futures fell 0.65%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.45%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,238.60 a troy ounce, compared to $1,232.80 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $36.16 a barrel from $36.33 earlier.