On Thursday, the dollar rose against all major currencies, confirming that traders may have been waiting for the release of US inflation data. Yesterday's release of the US Producer Price Index (PPI) for August showed a significant year-on-year increase to 5.4%, up from a previously revised 4.8%; core PPI rose to 4.6%, higher than the previous 4.3%. Against the backdrop of escalating tensions in the Middle East, this data boosted market expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike, with market pricing indicating a 68% probability of a 25 basis point rate hike at next week's meeting. The second 25 basis point rate hike, originally expected in March, is now anticipated to occur in January. Market focus shifts to the US CPI inflation report. Currently, market attention is focused on today's release of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August. If the data indicates that rising costs borne by producers have been passed on to end consumers, the Fed's interest rate path is expected to tighten further. Coupled with oil prices accelerating past the $100 per barrel mark, the market is concerned that inflation will rise further. Considering these factors, despite the US Treasury's repurchase operations, US Treasury yields still rose yesterday. If the CPI data also exceeds market expectations, the US dollar is likely to strengthen further. The market expects the overall CPI to remain unchanged at 3.4% year-on-year, while the core CPI is expected to slightly decline from 2.5% to 2.4%. Considering yesterday's PPI performance, exceeding market expectations is not a particularly high threshold. The European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates, and further rate hikes are still possible . In addition to the US PPI, investors also digested yesterday's ECB interest rate decision. As widely expected, the ECB raised rates by 25 basis points. Escalating geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East may keep inflation high for a longer period, a key consideration in this rate hike. The ECB raised its inflation forecast. ECB President Lagarde warned that if regional conflicts escalate further, inflation will have a secondary transmission to wages and other prices. According to Bloomberg, citing sources, ECB officials favor continuing rate hikes, with another increase possible as early as next month. As a result, market pricing indicates a 65% probability of a rate hike in October, and a December rate hike is already largely priced in. Even with hawkish signals from the European Central Bank, the euro failed to receive a significant boost; the release of US PPI data highlighted the strength of the US dollar, suppressing the euro's performance. Stock markets continued their decline, with rising yields and a stronger dollar dragging down gold . The three major Wall Street stock indices continued their decline. Rising US Treasury yields, a stronger dollar, and increasing expectations of a Fed rate hike, coupled with soaring oil prices, further exacerbated market risk aversion. Even renewed optimism regarding AI-related investment and spending failed to halt the stock market sell-off, meaning the stock market will be highly sensitive to today's CPI data. Gold retreated after touching the $4435 resistance level. Although the decline stopped near the 200-day moving average, with a slight rebound, if today's CPI inflation data exceeds expectations, the gold decline may resume, with bears potentially pushing prices down to the $4200 range.