Minutes from the Fed's July policy meeting revealed policymakers prioritized tariff-driven inflation risks over labor market concerns when keeping interest rates unchanged.

The minutes of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, published on Wednesday, showed that “some [members] noted that it would not be feasible or appropriate to wait for complete clarity on the tariffs’ effects on inflation before adjusting the stance of monetary policy”.

The written account of the Federal Reserve's July meeting, released on Wednesday with a customary three-week lag, suggested officials were divided over when they could be confident that higher import costs wouldn’t lead to a period of broader,

Stocks continued to trade lower on Wednesday, while yields on U.S. government debt were little changed, after minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting showed that officials expected near-term inflation to increase.

Incomes are still trailing inflation four years after the pandemic-era surge in prices, causing a financial pinch for many households.

South Africa's rand was little moved on Wednesday, despite the country's highest inflation reading for 10 months, as investors awaited minutes from the Fed's July meeting and a symposium later this week that could provide U.

Businesses maintained their inflation expectations at +2.3%, on average, in August vs. July, according to an Atlanta Fed survey released on Wednesday. Sales levels and profit margins "compared to normal" rose last month,