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.

Members of the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee debated whether tariffs would fuel inflation, with a few officials expecting the import duties would only represent a one-time price increase,

President Trump Wednesday called on Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to step down over claims of “mortgage fraud” as he presses his feud over economic policy with the central bank. “Cook must resign,

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.

The economy could soon see a big drop in shelter prices that slashes the current inflation rate by more than half, Rosenberg Research said.

After somewhat positive inflation data in July, the chances of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in September are at roughly 83%, according to CME Group 's FedWatch tool calculations on Aug. 18. One month earlier, roughly 59% of traders betting on changes in the federal funds rate thought an interest rate cut would occur in September.

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,