US CPI higher than expected with USD remaining relatively flat; Bitcoin slid heavily after Musk’s announcement to stop accepting payments  

USD is relatively flat on Friday morning in Asia, heading towards a positive gain to conclude this week. The recently released CPI was again higher than expected. In April, CPI grew at 0.6% on a MoM basis and 6.2% on a YoY basis. Consumer spending is expected to gain more strength and retails sales data, which will be released later today, may help confirm it. However, the Fed does not seem to be reacting in the same direction as investors thought. Central bank officials, including the Fed Governor Christopher Waller, have reiterated that spikes in inflation will be temporary.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin traded around two-month low after Elon Musk tweeted that, Tesla would stop accepting Bitcoin as a method of payment due to environmental concerns. Soon after the announcement, Bitcoin breached the $50,000 level and is still under it. At the same time, Dogecoin moved in the opposite direction and jumped nearly 20% after Musk said that he was working with Dogecoin developers to improve the transaction efficiency.