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.

Urban American consumers are paying more for good and services while more are out of work, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The latest PPI report showed inflation is largely a non-issue at the moment, but today's CPI report could impact Federal Reserve rate cut decisions and stock market trends. Stocks largely got a boost yesterday from Oracle's earnings report,

With August data for both the CPI and the producer price index proving fairly soft for August, economists expect the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge to remain unchanged at the next reading. Economists for Citi expect that the core personal consumption expenditures price index will increase 0.

CPI rose 0.4% month-over-month (MoM) in August, against the expected 0.3%. In August, Core CPI rose 3.1% YoY as per expectations. The figure rose 0.3% MoM as expected. The CPI data is the most common metric to measure inflation.

While Bitcoin rebounded since its $108,000 lows, ETH-USD is still trying to regain upside momentum. Consolidating above $4400 could provide the necessary boost for an upside breakout.

The major U.S. stock indexes closed at fresh record highs on Thursday after consumer inflation data came in as expected, adding to Wall Street's conviction that the Federal Reserve will resume rate cuts next week.

Measuring inflation takes resources, but both the public and the U.S. government itself benefit from having an accurate read on price changes.

August CPI data shows inflation trending up to 2.9%. Read the latest analysis on what this means for markets and my thoughts on the Fed rate cuts.