In a sign of success in the Federal Reserve’s drive to rein in spiralling inflation, the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.1% in November compared to the month before, less than forecast from October’s 0.4% pace.
The CPI increased 7.1% on an annual basis, according to data released by the US Labor Department on Tuesday, less than the 7.3% economists polled by FactSet had predicted.
The largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), which has been reasonably stable so far in December, increased 1.6% to roughly $17,930 in the minutes following the publication of the news. It has increased 5.2% in the past 24 hours.
The second-ranked cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, Ether (ETH), has increased 6.9% in the past day to $1,335.
The CMI, or CoinDesk Market Index, increased 3.8%.
Investors have been keeping an eye on the statistics to see if the Federal Reserve’s interest rate rises this year are slowing the pace of consumer price increases, which earlier this year reached a four-decade high.
Generally speaking, tighter monetary policy drives down the value of riskier assets, including stocks and cryptocurrencies.
The Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, which sets the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, is meeting this week behind closed doors. A decision and new estimates on the direction of economic indicators are both slated for Wednesday.
The FOMC meeting on Wednesday and Tuesday’s CPI data, combined with the financial markets’ reaction, “will likely set the tone for the financial markets as we head into next year,” analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.
The increase in the core CPI, which excludes food and energy since they are typically more volatile, was 0.2% in November, which was similarly slower than in October.
