Investing.com - Producer price inflation in the U.S. increased more than forecast in September, while core prices also rose slightly more than expected, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the Commerce Department said that producer prices increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% last month, better than the forecast for a 0.2% advance and after a flat reading in August.
Year-over-year, the producer price index (PPI) rose 0.7%, compared to expectations for a gain of 0.6% and following a flat reading in the preceding month.
The core producer price index, that excludes food and energy, advanced by 0.2% in September, higher than forecasts for a gain of 0.1% and following a rise of 0.1% a month earlier.
Core producer prices increased at an annualized rate of 1.2% last month, in line with expectations and after rising 1.0% 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.
After the report, which was released simultaneously with the retail sales for September, the dollar remained broadly higher. EUR/USD was trading at 1.1015 from around 1.1003 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.2230 from 1.227 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 104.20 from 104.29 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 97.81, compared to 97.89 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures moved higher ahead of the market open. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 0.45%, the S&P 500 futures traded up 0.39%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.36%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,251.15 a troy ounce, compared to $1,249.50 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $50.77 a barrel from $50.66 earlier.