NEW YORK, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar lost in late trading on Friday, as statistics showed a decline in annual U.S. inflation to below 3 percent in November, reinforcing market forecasts of an interest rate reduction in March.
Over the 12 months leading up to November, the inflation rate measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index decelerated to 2.6 percent, down from October's 2.9 percent.
Excluding food and energy, the core PCE price index climbed 3.2 percent year on year in November, marking the slowest increase since April 2021. The Federal Reserve monitors the PCE price indices concerning its targeted 2 percent inflation rate.
"The market will view the data as very much adding weight to the Fed's recent tilt towards an easier monetary stance," said Stuart Cole, chief macro economist at Equiti Capital.
In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1014 U.S. dollars from 1.0998 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was up to 1.2702 U.S. dollars from 1.2684 dollars in the previous session.
The U.S. dollar bought 142.5000 Japanese yen, higher than 142.2700 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar decreased to 0.8560 Swiss francs from 0.8570 Swiss francs, and it fell to 1.3260 Canadian dollars from 1.3293 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar fell to 10.0090 Swedish kronor from 10.0989 Swedish kronor. ■
