US Producer Prices Jump to 6.3%, Adding to Pressure on the Fed

A second hotter than expected inflation report in two days has pushed rate hike worries higher, a development that investors say weighs on both crypto and stock markets.

US PPI Inflation Data Beats Forecasts

Producer prices rose 6.3% from a year earlier, well above the 5.4% economists expected and the 5.4% recorded in the previous reading. That gap between forecast and result is unusually wide for a monthly inflation release, which makes the surprise hard for markets to ignore.

Core PPI Climbs to 5.0%

Core producer prices, which leave out volatile items, increased 5.0% year over year. Analysts had forecast 4.4%, and the prior figure was 4.6%. Because the core number removes the swings in energy and food, the faster pace suggests price pressure is spreading beyond a single source.

What Hot Inflation Means for the Fed, Crypto and Stocks

This report follows Wednesday’s consumer price data, which already revived talk of an interest rate hike. Two strong readings back to back increase pressure on the Federal Reserve to act, and higher rates tend to hurt risk assets such as bitcoin and equities by raising borrowing costs and drawing money toward safer returns.