The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge is set to come in softer than another report this week on consumer prices that rocked financial markets. The so-called core personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding food and energy, probably advanced 0.2% or 0.3% in March, several analysts said Thursday after the Bureau of Labor Statistics published its producer price index. That compares with a 0.4% advance in the core consumer price index published Wednesday that shocked investors, who responded to the bigger-than-expected increase by pushing out the expected timing of Fed rate cuts. A number of ... (full story)