Finance

The U.S. consumer price index for August showed annual headline inflation holding steady at 3.4%, matching market expectations, while the core reading came in slightly firmer than anticipated at 0.3% for the month. Following the publication, traders sharply adjusted their expectations, pricing in an 87% probability of a 25-basis-point interest rate increase at the central bank's upcoming monetary policy meeting.

Geopolitical hostilities involving Iran and drone strikes targeting Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline have injected significant volatility into energy benchmarks, keeping Brent crude trading above $104 a barrel. Adding to domestic inflation pressures, retail diesel prices in the United States surpassed $6 a gallon for the first time on record.

Bitcoin and Ethereum faced downward pressure ahead of the final pre-Fed inflation readings, with Bitcoin sliding below the $77,000 threshold. Prices are being constrained by the combination of higher anticipated interest rates and political uncertainty surrounding the potential passage of the Clarity Act in the Senate.