The September Fed meeting is a key economic event, with Wall Street keyed into what Fed Chair Powell & Co. will do about interest rates.

The Fed’s preferred inflation measure is the PCE index, not CPI. Data for August on this measure will be released after the central banks’ rate-setting meeting on September 17, although it is unlikely to be hot given weak producer price data on Wednesday.

On a "core" basis, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, the annual inflation rate for August is expected to tick up to 3.1%, unchanged from July. Core prices are projected to climb 0.3% month over month, also matching July’s gain, which was the strongest monthly rise in six months.

Cryptocurrencies are being boosted by hopes of multiple cuts this year and by hype around IPOs and crypto treasury companies.

US stocks were on pace for record closes as Wall Street's attention turned from an upbeat day marked by renewed AI fervor to the next tranche of critical economic data.

A tame CPI report won't move Federal Reserve officials to back a 50-basis-point rate cut in September, believes Sarah House, a senior economist at Wells Fargo. "I think it's going to be hard to move,

Gold was charging near a record high Wednesday, trading around $3,650 an ounce after US wholesale prices unexpectedly fell and investors piled into bets the Federal Reserve will slash interest rates next week.