Fed under inflation pressure as the chorus for a rate hike grows

With oil prices surging and inflation worries mounting, a growing number of Federal Reserve officials are calling for higher interest rates. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said on Friday, July 17, that for the first time in her tenure businesses are asking the Fed to act to curb inflation, and estimated that core personal consumption expenditures, the Fed's preferred gauge, rose about 3.3 percent in June.

Oil's roughly 30 percent climb from its July lows, amid the US-Iran conflict, has revived concerns that inflation pressure will persist. Some interest-rate futures traders now price the odds of a hike at the September meeting in a 50 to 65 percent range, though the prevailing expectation is that rates stay on hold at the July 28 and 29 meeting. Tighter US monetary policy typically strengthens the dollar index and weighs on precious metals, which came under pressure this week, a channel whose effects reach Iran's gold and currency markets too.