Finance

A new Labor Department report revealed that while the headline consumer inflation rate held steady at 3.4% in August, underlying core price metrics came in stronger than forecasted. The sticky data prompted market participants to sharply raise the implied probability of a 25 basis point Federal Reserve interest rate hike at next week's policy meeting to roughly 87%.

Prolonged military conflicts between the U.S. and Iran continue to destabilize global energy commodities, pushing West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude prices toward multi-month highs. The persistent upward trajectory of oil costs has significantly pressured broader market sentiment while driving the 10-year Treasury yield past 4.95%, its highest level since late 2023.

Digital assets entered a broad risk-off phase, with Bitcoin dropping below the $77,000 threshold and Ethereum experiencing parallel declines. The downward valuation pressure stems from climbing Treasury yields and the anticipation of higher central bank interest rates, which fundamentally limit capital inflows into non-yielding digital assets.