Salman Ahmed, global head of macro and strategic asset allocation at Fidelity International, highlighted his base case for no rate cuts this year. "If inflation continues to progress over the summer or the labour market starts to show some signs of stress, we do think the chances of a rate cut this year are rising," the analyst said. "Nonetheless, the US economy remains resilient and the inflation data released today is influenced by the auto insurance and airfare sub-items, meaning the bar to kick-start a rate cut remains high."