US inflation report shocks investors. The figures are the highest in 41 years

A sharper-than-expected rise in US consumer prices in May fueled investor concerns about more aggressive interest rate hikes. US stocks rallied in recent weeks on investors' expectations that a possible peak in inflation may have already happened, which would allow the Fed to become less aggressive in its monetary policy. But now that markets are betting that the US central bank will raise rates by at least 50 basis points at its next three meetings, expectations of a less aggressive Fed are fading, and many investors believe more stock falls are expected. But, if we stick strictly to the published figures, the rebound has occurred in the CPI data, which rose to 8.6% from the previous 8.3%, motivated mostly by the gasoline price increase driven by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, this month's core CPI figure (excluding food and energy) fell again from the maximum of 6.5% in April. Therefore, two consecutive months of decline suggests that inflation seems to have reached a peak beyond the rise in energy prices and is not transmitted to the rest of the products.