Share this article
BTC
$79,795.32
+
2.66%ETH
$1,580.31
+
2.36%USDT
$0.9997
+
0.02%XRP
$1.9035
+
3.98%BNB
$560.74
+
1.97%USDC
$1.0000
-
0.01%SOL
$110.96
+
7.28%DOGE
$0.1510
+
6.09%TRX
$0.2324
+
2.74%ADA
$0.5927
+
6.33%LEO
$8.9739
+
0.53%TON
$3.1119
+
7.53%LINK
$11.62
+
6.19%XLM
$0.2327
+
8.47%AVAX
$17.12
+
8.75%SHIB
$0.0₄1150
+
3.80%SUI
$2.0588
+
10.82%HBAR
$0.1544
+
13.92%OM
$6.3788
+
7.52%BCH
$279.03
+
4.75%Sign Up
- Back to menuPrices
- Back to menuResearch
- Back to menu
- Back to menu
- Back to menu
- Back to menuResearch
Fed's Preferred Inflation Gauge Rises Less Than Expected, and Bitcoin Rises
BTC pops after U.S. PCE price index comes in slightly slower for September than predicted by economists.
Bitcoin got a quick boost early Friday after a U.S. government report showing that an inflation gauge closely monitored by the Federal Reserve rose slower than estimated last month.
The PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) Price Index increased 0.3% in September, slowing from August's 0.4% clip. The increase was also less than the 0.4% average estimate of economists in a FactSet survey.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The price of bitcoin (BTC) jumped after the news, and was up to about $20,500, from about $20,100 just before the report.
Bitcoin, along with U.S. stocks and other assets seen as risky, has been moving recently on speculation over whether the Fed might soon let up in its campaign to bring down soaring inflation. The central bank has been tightening monetary policy to cool the economy in an effort to slow the pace of consumer-price rises – and higher interest rates tend to make risky assets less attractive.
Over the past 12 months, the PCE Index is up 6.2% – still well above the Fed's 2% target. The measure is produced by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis.
But traders might be encouraged by any signs of progress in bringing the number down, even incrementally.
Another inflation gauge, the Consumer Price Index, produced by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, is typically published a couple weeks prior to PCE every month and is much more closely watched by economists and the broader public.
The most recent CPI report, published Oct. 13, showed that the index unexpectedly rose faster than expected in September, at a rate of 8.2%, close to its highest level in four decades. Bitcoin's price fell after that report.
Bradley Keoun
Bradley Keoun is CoinDesk's managing editor of tech & protocols, where he oversees a team of reporters covering blockchain technology, and previously ran the global crypto markets team. A two-time Loeb Awards finalist, he previously was chief global finance and economic correspondent for TheStreet and before that worked as an editor and reporter for Bloomberg News in New York and Mexico City, reporting on Wall Street, emerging markets and the energy industry. He started out as a police-beat reporter for the Gainesville Sun in Florida and later worked as a general-assignment reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, he double-majored in electrical engineering and classical studies as an undergraduate at Duke University and later obtained a master's in journalism from the University of Florida. He is currently based in Austin, Texas, and in his spare time plays guitar, sings in a choir and hikes in the Texas Hill Country. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.
