Markets cheer soft US PPI, but there’s a catch

March’s US Producer Price Index rose by much less than expected, with core wholesale inflation slowing sharply and services prices coming in completely flat. March’s US Producer Price Index rose by much less than expected, with core wholesale inflation slowing sharply and services prices coming in completely flat. However, intermediate demand data tell a more complicated story: price… March’s US Producer Price Index rose by much less than expected, with core wholesale inflation slowing sharply and services prices coming in completely flat. March’s US Producer Price Index rose by much less than expected, with core wholesale inflation slowing sharply and services prices coming in completely flat. However, intermediate demand data tell a more complicated story: price pressures continue to build in the middle of the production pipeline, and the full costs of the Strait of Hormuz disruption, from helium shortages to surging fertilizer prices, have barely begun to show up in the… For traders, releases like this can quickly shift rate expectations, currency direction, index futures and broad risk sentiment. Watch the next move in the dollar, front-end yields and index futures to see whether the market prices this release as a true surprise or only a passing headline.