After some persistently high inflation reports at the start of 2024, Powell said, the data for April and May "do suggest we are getting back on a disinflationary path."
The stock market is sensitive to inflation data, as it can influence interest rates for the better or for the worse. Rising rates hurt market sentiment while falling interest rates spell cheer. Watch this video to understand how inflation and the stock market are related.
From September to October, prices jumped 0.9%, the highest month-over-month increase since June.
India will remain one of the strongest growth stories in the Asia Pacific region as the country has a potential GDP growth rate of around 6-7 per cent or perhaps even more, global finances services major Goldman Sachs has said.
The monetary policy framework agreement as signed on February 20 is to "primarily maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth". "The Reserve Bank will aim to bring inflation below 6 percent by January 2016.
The April wholesale price index (WPI) number of 4.89 percent is way below the CNBC-TV18 poll, which had expected wholesale prices to have risen an annual 5.50 percent in April. In March, WPI was at 5.96 percent.
Inflation rate is expected to trend lower during January-March, the Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao told reporters, a month after he had indicated the central bank might ease monetary policy as early as January.
In times when the global economy is experiencing a gloom, and sending its ripples to the Indian economy, there is uncertainty looming around. In India along with slump in economic growth rate, price rise (commonly known as inflation) has been major concern for the central bank as well as citizens of the country.
China's annual inflation rate eased to 5.5% in October, a third straight month of decline from July's three-year peak and Premier Wen Jiabao said prices had fallen further since then.
CNBC-TV18 catches up with Robert Prior-Wandesforde, head of India & South East Asia economics, Credit Suisse, to get his perspective on where our economy is headed and what is the likely move from RBI going ahead.
The World Bank on Tuesday revised up its growth forecast for the developing world and warned that higher food and fuel prices were causing inflationary pressures to build up.