Much of the anticipation for markets for the past week or so has surrounded whether, after the larger than expected gain in average hourly earnings, the CPI would present a similar picture of emerging US inflation. And it did. Headline and core CPI came in stronger than expected, headline by three tenths and the core by a tenth. Higher energy prices in January was an important element of the headline story on the back of higher oil prices, gasoline prices up 5.7%. But the Core CPI that leaves out food and energy inflation rose 0.3% m/m for steady annual growth of 1.8% (last January was also 0.3%) against expectations ... (full story)