“Fed chairman Ben Bernanke affirmed that the Fed views inflation as transitory as long as the labour market is not strong enough to present second round effects,” DBS Bank said in a market commentary. The Fed chairman said a jump in US inflation rates for the month of February would be "transitory", adding that medium-term expectations "if anything, will be a bit low." US February inflation data released last month showed soaring consumer price levels across a large swathe of goods, with costs of staples jumping 0.5 percent, the fastest rise since June 2009. Bernanke's statement also hinted that he was committed to seeing through a $600 billion stimulus package expiring in June, going against fellow Federal Open Market Committee members' calls to cut it short and raise interest rates as the economy recovered.