Fed’s preferred inflation gauge sits near 3.7%, well above target
Asian shares were mostly lower and oil prices slipped on Monday at the outset of a week capped by a meeting of top U.S. economic officials at Jackson Hole, according to The Associated Press.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.5% to 65,678.45, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 3.5% to 6,664.36. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 2.1% to 25,465.23, and the Shanghai Composite index gave up 0.7% to 3,877.30. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 9,107.40, bucking the regional trend. Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.5%. U.S. futures edged lower.
Investors will get a key inflation update on Wednesday when the U.S. releases its report on personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, for July. It is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. The PCE price index recently stood at 3.7% year-over-year, well above the Fed’s 2% target.
The Fed moved closer to its target in early 2025, but inflation then started creeping higher as the U.S. imposed a wide range of tariffs globally, according to AP. The rate of inflation leaped higher in early 2026 as the Iran war curtailed global oil shipments from the Strait of Hormuz.
The Jackson Hole gathering, an annual symposium attended by central bankers and economists, will be closely watched for signals about the Fed’s next policy moves.