Traders see Fed pause in June as virtual certainty following May inflation report

Traders of Fed funds futures now see a Fed interest-rate pause on Wednesday as a virtual certainty following the latest reading on consumer-price inflation in the U.S., which showed price pressures eased in May to their lowest level in two years. Interest-rate futures markets expect a 100% chance of a Fed pause when the central bank’s June policy meeting concludes on Wednesday, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool. The CPI data showed headline consumer-price growth slowed in May to 4% on a year-over-year basis, just as economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected. At the same time, chances of a hike in July rose to 66.5%, up from roughly 60% a day earlier.