All three major stock indexes were headed for losses in Wednesday's final hour of trading, dragged down in part by concerns from Federal Reserve officials about rising near-term inflation and elevated asset valuations.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting showed policymakers grappling with a slowing labor market and inflation that remains above the central bank’s target.

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,

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.

Goldman Sachs economists in a note estimated that consumers could soon bear up to 67% of tariff costs, up from 22%, thus escalating broader inflation risk. Before the Aug. 14 PPI report, markets were nearly unanimous in pricing a September Fed interest rate cut of up to 0.50%.

Ahead of the Federal Reserve’s annual conference in Jackson, Wyoming, which starts on Thursday (Aug. 21), the topic of inflation will dominate discussions.

"The hardest thing that the Fed ever has to do is get the timing right at moments of transition,” Goolsbee said on NBC News’ “Here’s the Scoop” podcast.