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By Alister Bull
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. import prices rose by much more than expected
in March as the cost of imported fuel jumped, while home refinancings
were dampened by higher mortgage rates, new data showed on Wednesday.
The price of goods imported into the United States was up 0.9 percent,
the sixth consecutive monthly rise after a 0.4 percent gain in February,
the Labor Department (news - web sites) said.
March's rise was nearly double Wall Street forecasts for a 0.5 percent
advance.
The cost of petroleum products climbed 6.1 percent after a revised 0.1
percent gain the previous month. Non-petroleum imports increased 0.2
percent.
Export prices were up 0.9 percent, the largest gain since April 1995's
1.0 percent rise, Labor said.
Imported food costs advanced 0.8 percent after pushing up a revised
1.3 percent in February.
Commodity prices have been powered higher in recent months. The Reuters/CRB
Index of 17 commodity futures, a widely watched benchmark for raw material
prices, sits near a 23-year high reached two weeks ago.
Industrial supplies, excluding petroleum, advanced 1.1 percent.
Import prices can be influenced heavily by the value of the dollar in
foreign exchange markets but the currency's two-year slide has so far
had only a modest upward impact, with stiff competition and demand weakness
as the economy climbed out of recession keeping costs in check.
Over the last 12 months, non-petroleum imports have risen 1.0 percent.
HOME LOANS
Separately, the Mortgage Bankers Association said its measure of demand
for refinancings, the refinancing index, declined 15 percent to 4,126.7
from the previous week's 4,857.6.
Refinancings accounted for over half of the loans processed last week
by mortgage lenders.
Average 30-year mortgage rates, excluding fees, increased 26 basis points
to 5.75 percent, the MBA said.
While requests for loan refinancings fell in the latest week, demand
for loans to buy homes should remain lively even if borrowing costs
have risen, analysts said.
The MBA's measure of demand for loans to buy homes, the MBA purchase
index, rose by 7.6 percent to 477.5 from 443.8 in the prior week. At
the same time, the MBA's seasonally adjusted market index, a measure
of weekly mortgage activity, fell for the week ending April 2 by 7.2
percent to 1,012.9.
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