<div id="readability-page-1" class="page"><div>By Pranoy KrishnaBENGALURU, Feb 9 (Reuters) - India's annual consumer inflation rate likely rose for a third consecutive month to 2.4% in January, according to a Reuters poll of economists, as firming food prices ​and higher gold and silver coincided with fading favourable base effects.January will be the first month of ‌a new data series based on 2024 prices and will mark the first time since August that inflation returns to the Reserve Bank ‌of India’s (RBI) 2%-6% target band.Complicating matters, the consumer price index (CPI) data, scheduled for release on February 12, will contain new constituent weightings, most notably a sharp cut to food, one of the most volatile CPI components, to roughly 37% from around 46% under the previous 2012 series.MANY ECONOMISTS AWAITING CLARITY ON NEW DATAThe median forecast of 2.4% represents a sharp increase from ⁠1.33% in December under the old series, ‌according to a Reuters poll of 34 economists taken between February 5 and 9.Estimates ranged widely from 1.40% to 3.10%, and many economists held off on making predictions this month, ‍awaiting more clarity on the new data.Anubhuti Sahay, head of India Economic Research at Standard Chartered, said apart from an expected boost from unusually low prices in the previous year being removed from the comparison, &#34;both food as well as core inflation are likely ​to edge up higher&#34;.Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel components and better reflects underlying demand, was expected ‌by analysts to have risen to 4.60% in January, roughly unchanged from December, though India does not publish official core inflation data.&#34;Gold and silver prices were quite high in January versus December,&#34; Sahay said, adding that the food price disinflation that prevailed in the data last year had run its course and food prices were starting to push overall inflation higher again.Gold prices rose by as much as 13% in January, while silver rose around 19%, driven by ⁠safe-haven demand away from U.S. dollar-denominated assets. But those prices have ​since tumbled.LESS VOLATILITY IN FUTUREBroadly speaking, inflation is expected to fluctuate ​less going forward, and most economists say the old CPI weightings, particularly the large food component, made inflation excessively volatile and overly sensitive to food supply shocks.They also argue it did not ‍adequately reflect how the average ⁠Indian household’s consumption patterns have changed since 2011-12.The revised CPI will expand major spending categories from six to 12. The index will track e-commerce and digital services for the first time, and will include airfares, telecom ⁠plans and selected online services.Wholesale price index-based inflation (WPI), which has not been rebased, was forecast to rise modestly to an annual 1.25% from ‌0.83% in December, according to the survey.(Reporting by Pranoy Krishna; Polling by Susobhan Sarkar and Anant ‌Chandak; Editing by Hari Kishan, Ross Finley and David Holmes)</div></div>

India's annual consumer inflation is expected to rise to 2.4% in January, driven by increasing food and gold prices, according to a Reuters poll. This marks the first month of a new data series based on 2024 prices and returns inflation to the Reserve Bank of India's target band. The median forecast reflects a significant increase from December's 1.33%. Economists anticipate core inflation to remain steady at 4.60%. The revised consumer price index will include new categories and reduce the food component's weight, aiming for less volatility in future inflation measurements.

- A Reuters survey indicates that India's annual consumer inflation rate is expected to rise to 2.4% in January, driven by increasing food prices and precious metals.  
- This month marks the introduction of new data series based on 2024 prices, shifting the food component weight in the Consumer Price Index from about 46% to 37%.  
- Analysts predict a decrease in future inflation volatility, with core inflation anticipated to rise to 4.60%, reflecting changes in household consumption patterns and the impact of rising prices for gold and silver.

Yahoo Finance

iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners

VanEck Vectors Gold Miners UCITS ETF

SPDR Gold Shares

Xtrackers Nifty 500 India ETF

EFUND GOLD MI-U

Direxion Daily Jr Gold Miners Bull 2X

First Trust India Nifty 50 Equal Weight

GX INDIA TOP 10

GLOBAL X Gold Explorers

ChinaAMC Gold ETF

Franklin FTSE India

FL2CSOPGOLD

SPDR GOLD TRT

Pro Ultr GLD

ChinaAMC CSI SH-SZ-HK Gold Industry Equity ETF

Abrdn Gold ETF Trust

Van Eck Associates Corp.

Roundhill Gold Miners Weeklypay ETF

Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 2X

Invesco Db Precious Metals ETF

VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners UCITS ETF

YieldMax Gold Miners Opt Inc Strgy ETF

ISHARES INDIA

VanEck Gold Miners ETF

Microsectors Gold Miners 3x Leveraged ETN

Sprott JR Gold Miners ETF

EFUND GOLD MI-R

Us Gbl GLD & Met

Sprott GLD Miners Etf

Wtree India Earnings

ISHRS MSCI India

VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF

iShares Gold Trust

India January consumer inflation likely rose to 2.4% on food and gold prices: Reuters Poll