Powell to Address Views on Inflation After Surprise Jump in Core Prices

• Powell to update views on policy and inflation on Friday following recent higher-than-expected inflation data • February personal consumption expenditures price index rose 2.5% annually, up from 2.4% in January • Core PCE price index, excluding food and energy, rose 0.3% monthly, counter to Powell’s expectation of well below 0.3%
• Some details in inflation report did show improvement in metrics Fed focuses on • Powell appearance follows Fed holding rates steady last week while narrowly reaffirming projection for 0.75 percentage point rate cut by end of year