Mubasher: The costs of the US import dropped in December 2018, helped mainly by lower fuel prices, data showed on Wednesday.

The price index for the country’s imports declined 1% last December, after falling 1.9% in November, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported.

Fuel import prices slipped 9.2% last month, after dropping 13.3% in the prior month, while non-fuel prices remained stable month-on-month.

Omitting fuel import prices, the importing costs remained unchanged last month, as higher prices for consumer goods, automobiles, foods and beverages wiped out declines in those for capital goods and non-fuel industrial supplies and materials.

US export costs fell 0.6% last December after shedding 0.8% in the prior month, as lower prices for non-farm exported products more than offset higher agricultural export prices.

By 1:40 pm GMT, the EUR/USD pair fell 0.21% to $1.1389.