WASHINGTON: Inflation and retail sales data for February leave the stage open for the Fed. Most data comes out as expected: core CPI is 2.2% y/y as predicted. Retail sales are up 0.1%, core sales are up 0.2% and the retail control group is up 0.1% a small miss. There are upwards revisions to retail sales numbers. The US dollar is mildly stronger.
Top tier US figures are released hours ahead of the all-important Fed rate hike: retail sales and inflation. The most critical points are Core CPI y/y which is expected to slide from 2.3% to 2.2% and the control group of retail sales, which is projected to advance by 0.2% after 0.4% beforehand. The US dollar was slightly lower ahead of the publications.
