India's annual inflation climbed rather sharply in August from the previous month, denting expectations of monetary easing by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Sept. 17.

Inflation, as measured by the wholesale price index (WPI), stood at 7.55% last month versus 6.87% in July, the Union Commerce & Industry Minister said today.

The annual inflation rate was at 9.78% during the corresponding month of the previous year.

The official WPI for ‘All Commodities’ for August rose by 1.1% to 166.6 from 164.8 in the preceding month.

Build up inflation in the financial year so far was 3.48% compared to a build up of 3.61% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The Government revised higher the inflation rate for June 2012, to 7.58% from 7.25% projected earlier while the WPI for June was revised to 164.7 from 164.2 estimated earlier.

WPI Break-up for August 2012:

Primary - 10.08% vs 10.4% MoM

Food - 9.14% vs 10.06% MoM

Fuel - 8.32% vs 5.98% MoM

Mfg - 6.1% vs 5.58% MoM

Source: Commerce & Industry Ministry.


Markets at 10:53 am (IST)  

Sensex, Nifty: 18,418; 5,556

USD-INR: 54.73

10-year Yield: 8.1379%



Markets at 11:36 am (IST)  

Sensex, Nifty: 18,397; 5,552

USD-INR: 54.67

10-year Yield: 8.1575%


Markets at 11:53 am (IST)  

Sensex, Nifty: 18,400; 5,552

USD-INR: 54.73

10-year Yield: 8.1666%

Onions turned cheaper by ~20.7% in the month under consideration, while Vegetable prices were up ~10% on an annual basis. Fruit prices were up ~1% year over year, while Milk prices increased ~6.7%. 

Egg, Meat & Fish became costlier by ~13.8% compared to the year-ago period. 

Potato prices soared by a staggering ~69% on an annual basis while Cereal prices went up by ~10.7% year over year. Prices of Pulses rose by ~34.4%. Annual inflation in Rice stood at ~10.3% while Wheat prices were up ~12.8%.

In the Non-Food category, prices of Oilseeds rose by ~28.3% from a year ago while that of Fibres rose by ~3.5%. Mineral prices climbed more than ~9.7% from last year. 

In Fuel & Power category, LPG prices were up ~0.6%, petrol by ~9.4% while diesel prices remained steady.

In Manufactured Products category, Food Products prices rose by ~9%, while that of Edible Oils increased by ~10.5%. The price of Beverages, Tobacco & Tobacco Product jumped ~4.7% while that of Cotton Textiles increased 4.4%. Sugar prices climbed by ~16%.

Price of Wood & Wood Products increased by ~5.4% while that of Leather & Leather Products increased by ~3.5%.

Chemicals & Chemical Products' prices jumped by ~7.7% while that of Non-Metallic Mineral Products rose by 9.7%, Cement & Lime by ~13.3%, Basic Metals Alloys & Metal Products by ~8.1% and Iron & Semis by ~8.4%.