April 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rallied on
Wednesday after data showed headline consumer prices cooled
faster than expected in March, raising hopes that the Federal
Reserve could hit pause on its interest rate hiking cycle soon.
The Labor Department data showed headline and core CPI in
March rose 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively, on a month-on-month
basis. Economists were expecting a rise of 0.2% and 0.4%,
respectively.
On a year-over-year basis, the headline number rose 5%
against economists' estimate of a 5.2% rise, while the core
measure, which strips out volatile food and energy prices,
climbed 5.6% in line with consensus estimates.
Traders now see a 67% chance of a 25-basis point rate hike
in May by the Fed, down from 73% before the release of the data.
At 8:34 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 224 points, or
0.66%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 35.5 points, or 0.86%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 146.25 points, or 1.12%.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta)
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