Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay, noted that the US consumer price index for June saw the core index, which excludes volatile food and energy, fall 0.02% month-on-month, a sharp deceleration from the 0.2% rise in the previous month. The year-on-year increase also slowed from 2.9% to 2.6%, coming in below all economists' forecasts. The softening in prices was broad-based, including a slowdown in housing cost increases and declines in medical and education costs, while a sharp drop in gasoline prices pushed the headline index down 0.4% month-on-month, with the year-on-year rise narrowing to 3.5% from 4.2% in the prior month. This has quashed speculation of an early rate hike by the Federal Reserve, intensifying downward pressure on the dollar.