- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the PPI for final demand fell 0.5% in March.
- Bitcoin is now trading at $30,432, 1.5% up in the last 24 hours as per CMC.
Following March’s disappointing Consumer Price Index (CPI) statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed Thursday that the PPI for final demand fell 0.5% in March. A 0.1% increase in the PPI was predicted for March, therefore the 0.5% increase was unexpected.
Inflation as measured by the PPI in March climbed 2.7% year over year, below the 3% increase that was anticipated. PPI inflation increased by 4.9% from February last year. Seasonally adjusted, the rise in the Consumer Price Index was 0.1% in March, down from 0.4% in February. Final demand prices (excluding food, energy, and trade services) inched up 0.1% in March 2023, after a 0.2% increase in February.
Relaxed Monetary Policy Expected
The PPI for final demand was 0.4% in January 2023 and 0.4% in February 2023, respectively. For the year ending in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Final Demand Price Index rose 2.7%, not seasonally adjusted.
Meanwhile, the Bitcoin and the crypto market surged on the news. Bitcoin is now trading at $30,432, 1.5% up in the last 24 hours. The announcement caused a little increase in US stock futures. Futures for the Dow and the S&P 500 both increased by 0.17 percent.
This indicates that the US Federal Reserve’s quantitative tightening measures are having the desired impact, since both CPI and PPI rose by less than projected. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) fell by 0.46 percent after March PPI data was made public.
The Federal Reserve now has sufficient evidence to lean toward relaxing monetary policy in 2023. These macroeconomic signals may bode well for the cryptocurrency sector as a whole.
