The US December core CPI annual rate finally settled at 2.6%, matching November and falling short of the previously market-anticipated 2.7%.

Once this data was released, the Federal Reserve exhaled a sigh of relief. Recently, everyone was worried that tariff policies would push up prices, but now that core inflation has stabilized, that concern has also dissipated. Coupled with the soft employment data and increasing recession risks, the reasons for the Fed to cut interest rates are indeed growing.

But what do traders think? The majority of market voices still believe that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to move at the January policy meeting. The window for rate cuts doesn’t seem to have truly opened yet.