US: Annual core PCE Price Index rises to 1.8% in February vs. 1.7% expected

• Personal Income rose more than expected in February.
• US Dollar Index posts small daily gains above 99.50.

The core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation, rose to 1.8% on a yearly basis in February from 1.7%, the data published by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis showed on Friday. This reading came in higher than the market expectation of 1.7%.

The annual PCE Price Index remained unchanged at 0.1% and 1.8% on a monthly and yearly basis, respectively.

Further details of the report revealed that Personal Income rose 0.6% to beat the market expectation of 0.4% and Personal Spending increased 0.2% as forecasted.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index edged higher after the data and was last seen adding 0.1% on the day at 99.55.