Spreadex Market Update

US inflation-caused chaos quickly turns green for FTSE and co.



After a truly wild, if not unprecedented, initial reaction the markets quickly calmed down following news of January’s US inflation data.

On a month-on-month basis the headline inflation figure rose from 0.1% to 0.5%, skipping past the 0.3% forecast, while year-on-year the reading remained at 2.1%, avoiding the expected dip to 1.9%. The hawkishness of these figures was somewhat tempered, however, by the sharp drop in US retail sales, which fell from 0.4% in December to -0.3% in January.

The latest CPI numbers clearly provided an immediate gut punch for those investors fearing a rate-hiking Federal Reserve, the boards suddenly bathed in red within seconds of the release. However, in a potential sign of resilience the markets soon shook off those losses, with the European indices especially actually stretching their legs in the aftermath.

Recovering from the shock of the US inflation data the FTSE managed to climb 0.8% higher, an improvement on its midday half a percent rise, The DAX and CAC, meanwhile, almost doubled their growth with 1% and 1.1% rises respectively. The Dow Jones wasn’t quite as enthusiastic, though the index will surely take a 0.3% increase given the size of its initial post-CPI losses.

This erratic showing was echoed on the forex markets. Understandably the faster than forecast jump in inflation was catnip for the dollar, which soon found itself up half a percent against the pound and the euro. However, that growth proved to be short-lived, with investors seemingly deciding that today’s data didn’t change much, with the greenback slipping into the red against its currency rivals.

SEARCH FOR AN ARTICLE:

Enter a keyword and search for all relevant articles

MARKET ANALYSIS

RECENT POSTS

Economic Diary

23.04.26

Read More

Financial Trading Blog

Gold Wobbles Ahead of Global PMIs

Read More

Daily Market Update

22.04.26 Wednesday Morning

The S&P 500 closed lower on Tuesday as doubts over the Iran ceasefire weighed on sentiment, while the US dollar...

Read More

Economic Diary

22.04.26

Read More

Financial Trading Blog

FTSE 100 Under Pressure From Oil Ahead of CPI, Sainsbury's Earnings

Read More

Economic Diary

21.04.26

Read More

DISCLAIMER


Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 61% of retail investors lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. For professional clients, spread betting and CFD trading can also result in losses larger than your initial stake or deposit.

Spreadex Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, provides an execution only service and does not provide advice in any way. Nothing within this update should be deemed to constitute the provision of investment advice, recommendations, any other professional advice in any way, or a record of our trading prices. This update does not constitute or form part of an offer of, or solicitation for a transaction in any financial instrument, nor shall it or the fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract therefore. Any persons placing trades based on their interpretation of the comments or information within this update does so entirely at their own risk.

No representation, warranty, or undertaking, express or limited, is given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information or opinions contained within this update by Spreadex Ltd or any of its employees and no liability is accepted by such persons for the accuracy or completeness of any such information or opinions. As such, no reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information and opinions contained within this update.

The information contained within this update is the intellectual property of Spreadex Ltd and is protected by UK and International copyright laws. All rights reserved. Users may however freely download, distribute and reproduce extracts of the contents, subject always to accrediting Spreadex Ltd as the source and providing a hyperlink to www.spreadex.com.