The USD/MYR currency pair traded slightly higher on Wednesday after Malaysian retail sales report and as focus sets on US CPI inflation print that could provide more clues over the Federal Reserve’s monetary easing path.

Annual headline consumer inflation in the US probably picked up to 2.7% in November, according to market consensus, from 2.6% in October.

Annual core CPI inflation probably steadied at 3.3% in November.

In monthly terms, both headline and core consumer prices probably rose 0.3% in November.

Data from last Friday showed that US employment growth had picked up in November, but a surge in the unemployment rate to 4.2% suggested a cooling labor market, which reinforced the case for the Fed to deliver a rate cut again this month.

Markets are now pricing in about an 85% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s December meeting.

Meanwhile, the latest data out of Malaysia showed that local retail sales had risen 7.1% year-on-year in October, while picking up from a 5.5% surge in September. It has been the strongest sales growth since June, driven by strong sales at non-specialized stores.

The USD/MYR currency pair was last inching up 0.08% to trade at 4.4295. The exotic Forex pair earlier advanced to 4.4325, or a level last seen on December 5th.