The Labor Department's latest consumer-price index showed inflation held steady in July, keeping an imminent Fed rate cut in play. Interest-rate futures indicate traders now see a 96% chance the Fed will cut rates next month, according to CME Group data, up from 86% Monday. Two members of the Fed's top leadership indicated Tuesday, however, that they don’t think the central bank needs to lower interest rates, arguing the economy is managing to hold its own despite worries of high inflation and job losses.

The July inflation report keeps an interest-rate cut firmly on the table after the Federal Reserve’s meeting next month. The lack of an abrupt acceleration in price pressures likely removes an obstacle to lowering rates, amid growing concerns about a slowing labor market.

Fed officials were concerned earlier this year that large tariff increases could push up prices, stoking concerns about inflation. Those worries haven't been put to rest, but cost pressures have diffused more broadly through supply chains so far.

• Wall Street Weighs Up Odds of a Rate Cut

Inflation held steady in July even as President Trump’s tariff increases left their mark on some consumer prices, keeping a Federal Reserve rate cut in play for next month. Consumer prices were up 2.7% in July from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Tuesday, unchanged from June’s gain. That was below the 2.8% rise expected by economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid, a voting member of the Fed’s interest-rate committee this year, said the consumer-price index data, released earlier Tuesday, didn’t justify a rate cut in September. Investors see a September rate cut as likely after the July CPI report. The Trump administration argues that the data show tariffs are not boosting inflation as feared. In his separate remarks, Richmond Fed Tom Barkin said the data isn’t calling for any change in rates at the moment. “We may well see pressure on inflation, and we may also see pressure on unemployment, but the balance between the two is still unclear,” Barkin said. The Fed “was well positioned to adjust out policy stance as needed,” he added. The Richmond Fed president isn’t a voting member of the FOMC this year. (MarketWatch)

• The Partisan Economist Trump Wants to Oversee the Nation’s Data

• IEA Lifts Global Oil Supply Forecast, Signaling Bigger Surplus Ahead

A major reason for the success is a partnership with an under-the-radar trading platform quietly administered by Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, whose founder is seeking a pardon from President Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

7:45 a.m.: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin speaks before the Greenville Chamber of Commerce
12:45 p.m.: FRB Atlanta President Raphael Bostic speaks at a luncheon in Red Bay, AL
1 p.m.: FRB Chicago President Austan Goolsbee speaks at Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce event

8:30 a.m.: PPI
8:30 a.m.: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims
2 p.m.: NABE webinar with Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin

President Trump's attacks on the Federal Reserve and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics pose a threat to the dollar's outlook, Commerzbank's Michael Pfister says in a note. Trump on Tuesday repeated his criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates. Trump also threatened a lawsuit against Powell over pricey renovations at the Fed's headquarters in Washington D.C. On Monday, Trump nominated conservative think tank economist EJ Antoni to replace the BLS chief he fired earlier this month. "Increasingly this carries echos of autocratic countries, where the heads of statistics agencies or central banks are being replaced," Pfister says. This a negative development for the dollar, he says. — Renae Dyer

The Reserve Bank of Australia looks likely to deliver more interest-rate cuts, says David Bassanese, economist at Betashares. Inflation is close to the mid-point of the 2%-3% target band and official interest rates are still on the restrictive side of neutral, he adds. Indeed, the RBA's forecasts for contained underlying inflation are underpinned by expectations of further cuts, Bassanese adds. — James Glynn

A Russia-U.S. deal on a ceasefire in Ukraine could help global price inflation ease further, driven by a reduction in natural-gas prices, Neuberg portfolio manager Kaan Nazli writes. Presidents Putin and Trump are to meet in Alaska on Friday, with both sides saying they want to reach an agreement that would end fighting in Ukraine. Such a deal, if reached, would act as a tailwind to global disinflation, especially in Central and Eastern Europe and in Turkey, Nazli says. That would be down to a general lift in sentiment on easing geopolitical tensions, rather than a return of Russian gas to Europe, which looks unlikely still, he says. "If a ceasefire is not secured...U.S. willingness to impose secondary sanctions on importers of Russian oil and gas would become the dominant market driver," Nazli adds. — Joshua Kirby

• U.S. stock futures were slightly higher early in Europe and global equities markets rose after U.S. inflation data on Tuesday cemented expectations for the Federal Reserve to resume cutting interest rates in September.
• A growing share of people in the U.S. in the second half of life, many of them longtime homeowners, are choosing to rent instead of own.
• President Trump’s tariff policies have reordered global supply chains, redrawn investment maps and tested old alliances. In Switzerland, they have also spurred an uneasy audit of its role in the world.
• China’s new yuan loans dropped unexpectedly in July, sending yet another sign of weak demand in the economy despite Beijing’s efforts to bolster domestic demand.

WSJ Pro Central Banking brings you central banking news, analysis and insights from WSJ’s global team of reporters and editors. This newsletter was compiled by markets reporter Vicky Ge Huang in New York. Send your tips, suggestions and feedback to vicky.huang@wsj.com.