US$ gains after inflation data suggests hawkish Fed

New York

THE US dollar hit a more than two-week high against a basket of major currencies on Friday after US inflation data boosted bets the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in December, and touched a one-month high against sterling on worries over Britain's "Brexit".

The US Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.2 per cent last month. In the 12 months through August, the CPI increased 1.1 per cent. The figures beat expectations of economists polled by Reuters. Traders' expectations of a rate hike from the Fed at its meeting this week rose slightly to 15 per cent from 12 per cent on Thursday, according to CME Group's FedWatch programme, while expectations for December rose to nearly 52 per cent from just over 47 per cent.