September S&P 500 E-Mini futures (ESU25) are down -0.22%, and September Nasdaq 100 E-Mini futures (NQU25) are down -0.10% this morning, pointing to further losses on Wall Street, while investors await the Federal Reserve’s gathering at Jackson Hole, U.S. business activity data, and an earnings report from retail giant Walmart.
The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s July 29-30 meeting, released Wednesday, showed that most officials emphasized the risk of inflation as outweighing concerns about the labor market. Policymakers acknowledged concerns about higher inflation and weaker employment, but “a majority of participants judged the upside risk to inflation as the greater of these two risks,” according to the FOMC minutes. Also, officials debated whether tariffs would cause a one-time price increase or a more lasting inflation shock. “Several participants emphasized that inflation had exceeded 2% for an extended period and that this experience increased the risk of longer-term inflation expectations becoming unanchored in the event of drawn-out effects of higher tariffs on inflation,” the minutes said. In addition, many officials noted that it might take some time before the full impact of tariffs is reflected in consumer goods and services prices.
