
Mexico inflation falls within central bank's target range in early July
Consumer prices rose 3.55% in the 12 months through mid-July, data from the national statistics agency showed on Thursday, slowing down from the 4.51% reported a month earlier.
The figure also undershot the 3.64% expected by economists polled by Reuters.
The Bank of Mexico, which targets an inflation rate of 3% plus or minus one percentage point, cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points in June - its third straight cut of that magnitude - bringing it to 8.5%, the lowest since August 2022.
In the first half of July alone, Mexican consumer prices rose 0.15% compared to the prior two weeks, also below expectations of a 0.27% increase.
The closely watched core price index, which strips out some volatile food and energy prices, climbed 0.15% in early July, compared with 0.22% a month earlier. The 12-month core rate came in at 4.25%.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
BOJ offers cautiously upbeat view, keeps rates steady
TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady on Thursday and offered a cautiously optimistic view on the economic outlook, after Tokyo's trade deal with Washington cleared some uncertainty surrounding its fragile recovery. The central bank also revised up its inflation forecasts and said risks to the price outlook were "roughly balanced," a sign of its increasing conviction Japan will make progress towards meeting the prerequisite for further interest rate hikes. Markets are focusing on any hints Governor Kazuo Ueda may offer on the likelihood of another rate hike this year, as the central bank weighs lingering tariff-induced risks to growth and mounting inflationary pressure from higher food costs. As widely expected, the BOJ kept short-term interest rates steady at 0.5% in a unanimous vote. "It remains highly uncertain how trade policies will evolve and affect overseas economic and price activities," the BOJ said in a quarterly outlook report. The assessment was less gloomy than the previous report released in May, which warned of "extremely high uncertainty" over the fallout from U.S. trade policy. In the report, the BOJ revised up this fiscal year's core consumer inflation forecast to 2.7% from 2.2% projected three months ago. It expects inflation to hit 1.8% in fiscal 2026 and 2.0% in fiscal 2027. The projections are higher than those made on May 1 for inflation to hit 1.7% in 2026 and 1.9% in 2027. The BOJ's decision followed that of the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday to hold rates steady and chair Jerome Powell's comments reducing market bets of a September cut. Japan's trade deal struck with President Donald Trump this month lowers U.S. tariffs for imports of goods including its mainstay automobiles, easing the pain for the export-reliant economy and clearing a key hurdle for further BOJ rate hikes. The positive development contrasted with the gloom that surrounded the economy when the BOJ produced previous quarterly estimates in early May, when market turmoil was at its peak due to Trump's April announcement of sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs. Data released on Thursday showed factory output rose 1.7% in June, confounding market expectations for a 0.6% fall in a sign the economy was weathering the hit from U.S. tariffs. The BOJ exited its decade-long, massive monetary stimulus last year and raised its short-term policy rate to 0.5% in January on the view Japan was progressing towards durably achieving its price goal. While Governor Ueda has signaled a pause in rate hikes after Trump's April 2 announcement of "reciprocal" tariffs, Japan's trade deal with the U.S. has revived market expectations of an increase in its short-term policy rate to 0.75% by year-end. A Reuters poll, taken before the Japan-U.S. trade deal announcement earlier this month, showed a majority of economists expect the BOJ to raise rates again by year-end. Some hawkish BOJ board members have stressed the need to pay more attention to upside risks to prices with stubbornly high food costs keeping core inflation above the bank's 2% target for well over three years.


Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
StanChart first-half profit rises 26%, beats estimates
HONG KONG/LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered (StanChart) (STAN.L), opens new tab reported on Thursday its first-half pretax profit rose 26%, beating analysts' estimates, as a strong performance from its wealth, markets and global banking businesses boosted revenue at the emerging markets-focused lender. StanChart, which earns most of its revenue in Asia and Africa, said the reported pretax profit for the first six months of this year reached $4.38 billion. That compared with $3.49 billion a year earlier and the $3.83 billion average of 15 analyst estimates compiled by the bank. The London-headquartered lender also announced a further $1.3 billion share buyback that it said would start imminently.


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Asian stocks slide on weak China data, yen firms after BOJ decision
SINGAPORE, July 31 (Reuters) - Asian equities slipped on Thursday, weighed down by weaker-than-expected Chinese activity data and a plunge in copper prices, while the yen firmed after the Bank of Japan raised its inflation forecast for the fiscal year and held rates steady. The revised forecast suggested cautious optimism that Japan's trade deal with the U.S. would help the economy avert a steep downturn and set the BOJ on a path to hike interest rates later in the year. The yen firmed 0.6% to 148.62 per U.S. dollar immediately after the central bank maintained short-term interest rates at 0.5%, as expected, by a unanimous vote. Japanese shares (.N225), opens new tab showed little reaction to the decision and were last up 0.9%. In an action-packed 24 hours, investors were also digesting a trade deal between the U.S. and South Korea, a Federal Reserve decision to hold rates steady and strong earnings from megacap tech firms. Nasdaq futures surged 1.2% after better-than-expected earnings from Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.8%, while the U.S. dollar held steady after hitting a two-month high. Both tech companies' earnings reports "have shot the lights out", reporting higher revenue from cloud computing and artificial intelligence-enabled ad targeting respectively, said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG in Sydney. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab eased 0.7%, though it was still on track for its fourth consecutive monthly gain in July. Stocks in Hong Kong and China led declines after official PMI gauges showed weaker-than-expected economic activity during July. The Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee voted 9-2 on Wednesday to hold interest rates steady for the fifth consecutive meeting, with two Fed governors dissenting for the first time in more than three decades. Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the decision undercut confidence that borrowing costs would begin to fall in September. The dollar index was at 98.812, just shy of the two-month high of 99.987 it touched on Wednesday. The index is set to clock a 3.1% gain for the month, its first in 2025. "Although the Federal Reserve decided to keep rates steady at its recent rate setting decision, the chance of rate cuts at upcoming meetings remain live as they balance softening economic data with the potential for persistent inflation," said Manusha Samaraweera, fixed income investment director at Capital Group. U.S. gross domestic product growth rebounded more than expected in the second quarter, but the details of the report painted a picture of an economy that was losing steam and plagued by uncertainty from President Donald Trump's protectionist trade policies. The Korean won appreciated 0.3% after Trump said the U.S. will charge a 15% tariff on imports from South Korea, which will in return invest $350 billion in U.S. projects and purchase $100 billion in U.S. energy products. The announcement is the latest in a series of trade policy deals rushed out before an August 1 deadline to avert the imposition of the April 2 "Liberation Day" tariffs. Trump's tariff blitz cast a shadow on global markets, with negotiations on trade with India still under way after Trump earlier announced that the U.S. will impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from the country. Meanwhile, copper futures plunged 19% after Trump said the U.S. will impose a 50% tariff on copper pipes and wiring, as the details of the levy fell short of the sweeping restrictions expected and left out copper input materials such as ores, concentrates and cathodes. Oil prices were little changed on Thursday, with Brent crude futures for September delivery , which are set to expire on Thursday, down 0.19% at $73.1 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for September was flat at $70.01 a barrel. The more active Brent October contract eased 0.14% to $72.37 per barrel.