Westpac Looking For A Steady Y/Y CPI

Ahead of today’s monthly CPI reading Westpac write “the CPI Indicator rose 7.4% in the year to January compared to Westpac’s 7.9% forecast and the market’s 8.0%. On a monthly basis that was a 0.4% fall in the index, a moderation from the 1.6% rise in Dec, 0.8% increase in Nov and a 0.2% increase in October. Contributions worth noting included the 3.6% fall in clothing & footwear; a 1.1% rise in auto fuel prices and a very modest 0.2% rise in tobacco.”

• “The February survey will include the quarterly data for restaurants & take away, hairdressing, other household services, spare parts & accessories/maintenance/other services for motor vehicles, urban transport fares, communication, audio visual & computing services, equipment for sport, games/hobbies, sports participation/ other recreation, education, and insurance.”
• “Our 7.4% y/y forecast represents a 0.8% increase m/m.”