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

Most Federal Reserve officials highlighted inflation risks as outweighing concerns over the labor market at their meeting last month, as tariffs fueled a growing divide within the central bank’s rate-setting committee.

The central bank retired a previous strategy and on Friday unveiled a new approach that updates how inflation and employment are balanced.

The administration’s effort to oust a Fed governor as part of a pressure campaign for lower borrowing costs created an inescapable distraction at this year’s Jackson Hole conference.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said while some recent inflation readings have come in better than expected, he hopes one “dangerous” data point is just a blip.

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”.

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,