Consumer Price Index expected to rise 0.4 in February
CPI forecast to increase 6.0 on yearonyear basis
Core CPI seen rising 0.4; up 5.5 yearonyear

WASHINGTON, March 14 Reuters U.S. consumer prices likely rose at a solid pace in February amid sticky rental housing costs, but economists are divided on whether the data will be enough to push the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates again next week after the failure of two regional banks.

The report from the Labor Department on Tuesday, which is also expected to show goods inflation picked up in part due to an anticipated rebound in prices of used motor vehicles, will be published amid financial market turmoil triggered by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York, which forced regulators to take emergency measures to shore up confidence in the banking system.

It will also be released a week before the Fed begins a twoday policy meeting, and follow on the heels of a report last Friday showing a stilltight labor market, but cooling wage inflation. Economists said Tuesday39;s report remained important for policymakers despite the angst in financial markets.

If the Fed meeting was today, then you39;d have to say the Fed is not going to do anything, said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING in New York. If the actions from the Fed, Treasury and the FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation help to calm markets, then you39;d have to say that a 25basispoint hike is…