03-13-2025, 09:10 AM
US CPI comes in lower than expected — Are rate cuts coming?
<p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjUtMDMvMDE5NThjMDQtOGU4Ni03MmVkLTk5NDYtY2I4MThmMzUwNmFh.jpg"></p><p><p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjUtMDMvMDE5NThjMDQtOGU4Ni03MmVkLTk5NDYtY2I4MThmMzUwNmFh.jpg" alt="US CPI comes in lower than expected — Are rate cuts coming?"></p><p>The latest US core Consumer Price Index (CPI) print, a measure of inflation, came in lower than expected at 3.1%, beating expectations of 3.2%, with a corresponding 0.1% drop in headline inflation figures.<p>According to Matt Mena, crypto research strategist at 21Shares, the cooling inflation data adds to the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year, injecting much-needed liquidity into the markets and sending risk-on asset prices higher. Mena added:</p><blockquote>“Rate cut expectations have surged in response — markets now price a 31.4% chance of a cut in May, up over 3x from last month, while expectations for three cuts by year-end have jumped over 5x to 32.5%, and four cuts have skyrocketed from just 1% to 21%.”</blockquote><p>Despite the better-than-expected inflation numbers, the price of Bitcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">BTC</a>) <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-battles-us-sellers-cpi-inflation-sees-first-drop-since-mid-2024" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">declined from over $84,000</a> at the daily open to now sit around $83,000 as traders grapple with US President Donald <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/nthanksaq-futures-plunges-trump-trade-war-rattles-markets" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Trump’s trade war</a> and macroeconomic uncertainty.</p><figure><img alt="Federal Reserve, Economy, United States, Inflation, Interest Rate" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-03/01958c02-460a-70d2-b9fc-2f2ae73657f0" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>A majority of market participants believe the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by June 2025. Source: </em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html"><em>CME Group</em></a></p></figcaption></figure><p><em><strong>Related: </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-trump-trade-is-over-will-fed-rate-cuts-and-m2-expansion-help" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em><strong>Bitcoin’s ‘Trump trade’ is over — Traders shift hope to Fed rate cuts, expanding global liquidity</strong></em></a></p><h2>Is President Trump crashing markets to force rate cuts?</h2><p>Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on several occasions that the central bank is not rushing to cut interest rates — a view echoed by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller.</p><p>During a Feb. 17 <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/waller20250217a.htm" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">speech</a> at the University of New South Wales in Syndey, Australia, Waller said the bank should <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/fed-waller-supports-pausing-rate-cuts-while-inflation-plays-out" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">pause interest rate cuts</a> until inflation comes down.</p><p>These comments were met with concern from market analysts, who say that a lack of rate cuts might <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/federal-reserve-rate-cuts-delay-may-trigger-bear-market-analyst" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">trigger a bear market</a> and send asset prices plummeting.</p><p>On March 10, market analyst and investor Anthony Pompliano <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/APompliano/status/1899154245783359849" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">speculated</a> that President Trump was <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-intentionally-crashing-markets-force-fed-lower-interest-rates" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">intentionally crashing financial markets</a> to force the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.</p><figure><img alt="Federal Reserve, Economy, United States, Inflation, Interest Rate" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-03/01958c04-060e-7366-a926-c2f775a987a8" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>The US government has approximately $9.2 trillion in debt that will mature in 2025 unless refinanced. Source: </em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1898859119408451670" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1898859119408451670"><em>The Kobeissi Letter</em></a></p></figcaption></figure><p>According to The Kobeissi Letter, the US government needs to refinance roughly $9.2 trillion in debt before it reaches maturity in 2025.</p><p>Failure to refinance this debt at lower interest rates will drive up the national debt, which is currently over $36 trillion, and cause the interest payments on the debt to balloon.</p><p>Due to these reasons, President Trump has made interest rate cuts a top priority for his administration — even at the short-term expense of asset markets and business.</p><p><em><strong>Magazine </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/elon-musk-proposal-to-run-government-on-usa-chain-has-some-issues/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em><strong>Elon Musk’s plan to run government on blockchain faces uphill battle</strong></em></a></p><template data-name="subscription_form" data-type="markets_outlook" label="Subscription Form: Markets Outlook"></template></p>
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https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-cpi-lo...er_inbound
<p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjUtMDMvMDE5NThjMDQtOGU4Ni03MmVkLTk5NDYtY2I4MThmMzUwNmFh.jpg"></p><p><p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjUtMDMvMDE5NThjMDQtOGU4Ni03MmVkLTk5NDYtY2I4MThmMzUwNmFh.jpg" alt="US CPI comes in lower than expected — Are rate cuts coming?"></p><p>The latest US core Consumer Price Index (CPI) print, a measure of inflation, came in lower than expected at 3.1%, beating expectations of 3.2%, with a corresponding 0.1% drop in headline inflation figures.<p>According to Matt Mena, crypto research strategist at 21Shares, the cooling inflation data adds to the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year, injecting much-needed liquidity into the markets and sending risk-on asset prices higher. Mena added:</p><blockquote>“Rate cut expectations have surged in response — markets now price a 31.4% chance of a cut in May, up over 3x from last month, while expectations for three cuts by year-end have jumped over 5x to 32.5%, and four cuts have skyrocketed from just 1% to 21%.”</blockquote><p>Despite the better-than-expected inflation numbers, the price of Bitcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">BTC</a>) <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-battles-us-sellers-cpi-inflation-sees-first-drop-since-mid-2024" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">declined from over $84,000</a> at the daily open to now sit around $83,000 as traders grapple with US President Donald <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/nthanksaq-futures-plunges-trump-trade-war-rattles-markets" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Trump’s trade war</a> and macroeconomic uncertainty.</p><figure><img alt="Federal Reserve, Economy, United States, Inflation, Interest Rate" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-03/01958c02-460a-70d2-b9fc-2f2ae73657f0" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>A majority of market participants believe the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by June 2025. Source: </em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html"><em>CME Group</em></a></p></figcaption></figure><p><em><strong>Related: </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-trump-trade-is-over-will-fed-rate-cuts-and-m2-expansion-help" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em><strong>Bitcoin’s ‘Trump trade’ is over — Traders shift hope to Fed rate cuts, expanding global liquidity</strong></em></a></p><h2>Is President Trump crashing markets to force rate cuts?</h2><p>Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on several occasions that the central bank is not rushing to cut interest rates — a view echoed by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller.</p><p>During a Feb. 17 <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/waller20250217a.htm" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">speech</a> at the University of New South Wales in Syndey, Australia, Waller said the bank should <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/fed-waller-supports-pausing-rate-cuts-while-inflation-plays-out" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">pause interest rate cuts</a> until inflation comes down.</p><p>These comments were met with concern from market analysts, who say that a lack of rate cuts might <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/federal-reserve-rate-cuts-delay-may-trigger-bear-market-analyst" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">trigger a bear market</a> and send asset prices plummeting.</p><p>On March 10, market analyst and investor Anthony Pompliano <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/APompliano/status/1899154245783359849" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">speculated</a> that President Trump was <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-intentionally-crashing-markets-force-fed-lower-interest-rates" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">intentionally crashing financial markets</a> to force the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.</p><figure><img alt="Federal Reserve, Economy, United States, Inflation, Interest Rate" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-03/01958c04-060e-7366-a926-c2f775a987a8" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>The US government has approximately $9.2 trillion in debt that will mature in 2025 unless refinanced. Source: </em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1898859119408451670" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1898859119408451670"><em>The Kobeissi Letter</em></a></p></figcaption></figure><p>According to The Kobeissi Letter, the US government needs to refinance roughly $9.2 trillion in debt before it reaches maturity in 2025.</p><p>Failure to refinance this debt at lower interest rates will drive up the national debt, which is currently over $36 trillion, and cause the interest payments on the debt to balloon.</p><p>Due to these reasons, President Trump has made interest rate cuts a top priority for his administration — even at the short-term expense of asset markets and business.</p><p><em><strong>Magazine </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/elon-musk-proposal-to-run-government-on-usa-chain-has-some-issues/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em><strong>Elon Musk’s plan to run government on blockchain faces uphill battle</strong></em></a></p><template data-name="subscription_form" data-type="markets_outlook" label="Subscription Form: Markets Outlook"></template></p>
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https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-cpi-lo...er_inbound