9 PM After-Hours Flash: PPI QoQ — Actual: 0.4 (Est: 0.9) | PPI YoY — Actual: 3

Producer prices just cooled more than expected, and Wall Street is breathing a sigh of relief. The PPI came in at only four-tenths of a percent quarter-over-quarter, well below the nine-tenths estimate and down from the prior eight-tenths read. On a year-over-year basis, producer prices rose just three percent after last month’s three-and-a-half percent pace. That’s the softest annual gain in months and gives the Fed fresh ammunition to keep cutting rates.

These numbers are feeding hopes that tomorrow’s CPI will also show cooling pressure, which could set the stage for another dovish move from Powell. Right now European futures are edging higher on the data, oil is holding just above seventy-four dollars, and Bitcoin is steady near sixty-seven thousand as Asian trading gets underway.

The softer pipeline inflation reads reduce the risk of a hotter CPI surprise and tilt the odds toward a more dovish December. Russell’s Morning Outlook is right around the corner — stay with VixShield. I am your VixShield news reporter.