“Federal Reserve microphone” Nick Timiraos said, “The July inflation report is basically in line with market expectations, easing the pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month. Wall Street is particularly concerned about the CPI data released today, as Federal Reserve officials have also sent signals that they are watching this data more closely. Over the past year, Federal Reserve officials have been expecting inflation to fall back to the target level of 2% without further interest rate hikes, but now some officials believe it is necessary to maintain higher interest rates. Other officials said that if more data makes current predictions difficult to maintain, they may also join this hawkish minority. This forecast is based on the view that current interest rates are sufficiently restrictive, and that the reason why inflation remains high is due to external shocks rather than too loose monetary policy. The previous judgment was that tariffs would only push up costs once, and then the impact will gradually subside; as tension in the Middle East eases, energy prices will also fall as crude oil prices fall. “But the reality is that these shocks persist and are now compounded by a surge in demand brought about by the boom in artificial intelligence construction, which is driving the price of high-tech devices and software.”

“Federal Reserve microphone” Nick Timiraos said, “The July inflation report is basically in line with market expectations, easing the pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month. Wall Street is particularly concerned about the CPI data released today, as Federal Reserve officials have also sent signals that they are watching this data more closely. Over the past year, Federal Reserve officials have been expecting inflation to fall back to the target level of 2% without further interest rate hikes, but now some officials believe it is necessary to maintain higher interest rates. Other officials said that if more data makes current predictions difficult to maintain, they may also join this hawkish minority. This forecast is based on the view that current interest rates are sufficiently restrictive, and that the reason why inflation remains high is due to external shocks rather than too loose monetary policy. The previous judgment was that tariffs would only push up costs once, and then the impact will gradually subside; as tension in the Middle East eases, energy prices will also fall as crude oil prices fall. “But the reality is that these shocks persist and are now compounded by a surge in demand brought about by the boom in artificial intelligence construction, which is driving the price of high-tech devices and software.”