The dollar held near an eight-day high on Thursday after U.S. inflation and other economic data slightly lifted expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike, ahead of the Jackson Hole central bankers’ symposium due to begin later in the day.

Markets will also look to a speech and press conference by one of the Bank of Japan’s two deputy governors, Ryozo Himino, on Thursday for clues on the likelihood of ‌a September rate ⁠hike and ⁠the size and scope of any tightening path thereafter.

The U.S. Commerce Department data showed overnight that the Personal Consumption Expenditures ​Price Index increased 3.7% in the 12 months through July, unchanged from June and slightly above the 3.6% ​estimate of economists polled by Reuters. On a month-on-month basis, PCE rose 0.2% versus the estimate calling for a 0.1% increase, after falling 0.1% in June.

The reading on inflation kept the market’s ​expectation for a Fed rate hike by year-end live, though ⁠Chairman Kevin ‌Warsh’s upcoming speech at Jackson Hole “will be the ultimate test,” Westpac economist Ryan ​Wells said ​in a note.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket ⁠of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.21% to ​99.13, its highest level since August 19.

Against the yen, the dollar traded ​at 159.23, having given back most of its intervention gains but still well off a multi-decade low of about 164, with traders awaiting Himino’s speech due at 0130 GMT.
“In a speech shortly before the rate hike at the January 2025 meeting, Himino said policymakers would ‘discuss and decide whether to raise interest rates,’” Mitsubishi UFJ Bank senior analyst Akihiko Yokoo said in a note. “If ‌similar wording is used this time, it would likely be taken as signaling a strong possibility of a rate hike at the September meeting.”Still, Yokoo added that ​active yen ​buying is likely to remain ⁠limited with Himino and Warsh due to speak.

Money markets are pricing in an 87% chance of a rate hike by the BOJ next month, according to data from money market broker Totan ​Tanshi.

The Canadian dollar held steady versus the greenback at C$1.388 per dollar. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday it was “time to teach Canada you can’t do this anymore,” just days after trade talks between the neighbouring countries broke down.

The euro traded at $1.1655, while the British pound was steady at $1.3592. The Australian dollar strengthened 0.18% versus the greenback to $0.7181 and New Zealand’s kiwi gained 0.1% at $0.5948.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin rose 0.55% to $78,874.60. Ether was up 1.07% to $2,498.35.

This article was written by

Conference Call Participants

Joseph Vruwink – Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division
Brian Peterson – Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division
Hoi-Fung Wong – Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division
Ryan Powderly-Gross – Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
Alexei Gogolev – JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division
David Windley – Jefferies LLC, Research Division
Rishi Jaluria – RBC Capital Markets, Research Division
Tyler Radke – Citigroup Inc., Research Division
Jailendra Singh – Truist Securities, Inc., Research Division
Craig Hettenbach – Morgan Stanley, Research Division
Andrew DeGasperi – BNP Paribas, Research Division
Dylan Becker – William Blair & Company L.L.C., Research Division
Tamjid Md Moinuddin Chowdhury – Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Research Division
William Fitzsimmons – Piper Sandler & Co., Research Division
Ryan MacDonald – Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division
Scott Schoenhaus – KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Presentation

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the Lantronix 2026 Fourth Quarter Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Brent Stringham, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Brent Stringham
Chief Financial Officer

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining our fiscal fourth quarter earnings call. Joining me today is our President and Chief Executive Officer, Saleel Awsare. A live and archived webcast of today’s call will be available on the company’s website. In addition, you can find the call-in details for the phone replay in today’s earnings release.

During this call, we may make forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from current expectations. We encourage you to review the cautionary statements and risk factors contained in today’s earnings release, which was furnished to the SEC and is available on our website and other SEC filings such as our 10-K and 10-Qs.

Lantronix undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances. Additionally, during the call, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures. Today’s earnings release, which is posted in the Investor Relations section of our website, describes the differences between our non-GAAP and GAAP reporting and presents reconciliations for the non-GAAP financial measures that

NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average was roughly flat Wednesday, edging up just 15.42 points, or 0.029%, to 53,592.82 as of 9:55 a.m. EDT, as investors digested a fresh inflation reading and braced for Nvidia’s highly anticipated earnings report due after the closing bell, a release widely viewed as a key barometer for the broader artificial intelligence trade.

U.S. stocks traded largely flat Wednesday morning following the release of the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, which showed inflation remained sticky heading into the central bank’s Jackson Hole gathering later this week. According to Yahoo Finance, the S&P 500 dipped just below the flat line while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%, pulling back modestly after posting broad gains during Tuesday’s session. Economists had expected core PCE inflation to hold steady at 3.3% for the month, unchanged from the prior reading, according to AOL’s markets coverage.

One notable mover Wednesday morning was Meta Platforms, whose shares jumped in early trading after the company agreed to settle a major social media addiction trial for approximately $16.7 billion. According to Yahoo Finance, the case centered on allegations brought by 29 states that Meta had designed its products specifically to hook young users, misled consumers regarding platform safety, and improperly collected personal data from minors. The settlement resolves what had been one of the most closely watched pieces of litigation targeting the social media industry over child safety concerns.

Wednesday’s session followed a stronger showing Tuesday, when the Dow notched its third consecutive winning session, closing up 160.24 points, or 0.3%, at 53,577.40, according to CNBC. The S&P 500 rose 0.32% Tuesday to close at 7,677.28, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.66% to 26,151.30, buoyed by a rally in semiconductor stocks as investors positioned ahead of Nvidia’s results. Treasury yields extended their decline for a second consecutive day Tuesday, with the benchmark 10-year yield falling more than 7 basis points to 4.625%, continuing a retreat that began Monday after CNBC reported the Treasury Department could tap its roughly $1 trillion General Account to help fund its ongoing bond-repurchase program. West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped more than 3% during Tuesday’s session.

Nvidia shares rose 2% ahead of Wednesday’s results, snapping a seven-day losing streak that had weighed on the broader technology sector heading into the report, according to Yahoo Finance. The chipmaker’s quarterly earnings have increasingly become a closely watched market event, functioning as a real-time gauge of investor confidence in the durability of the broader AI infrastructure buildout. Expectations heading into the release remain elevated, with investors increasingly focused not just on Nvidia’s revenue growth but on companies’ broader ability to generate tangible returns on their massive AI-related capital investments.

Tuesday’s gains came even as trade tensions between the United States and Canada continued escalating. According to Yahoo Finance, investors largely brushed aside concerns over new U.S. trade measures against Canada, even as Canada’s Finance Department announced retaliatory tariffs in response to the 50% duties the Trump administration imposed on Canadian goods over the weekend. That trade dispute followed the breakdown of negotiations between the two countries and has continued to simmer in the background of broader market sentiment this week.

Separate economic data released Tuesday pointed to growing pressure on American consumers. Both new home sales and a measure of consumer confidence fell to their lowest levels since January, according to Yahoo Finance, as elevated cost-of-living pressures continued weighing on household spending decisions. That data adds further context ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh’s keynote address at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium later this week, a speech markets are watching closely for signals regarding the central bank’s approach to interest rates under its new leadership.

Retail and consumer-facing stocks also factored prominently into Tuesday’s trading. DICK’S Sporting Goods shares sank 30% after the retailer missed second-quarter expectations and slashed its full-year outlook, citing challenging conditions across the broader athletic footwear and apparel marketplace, according to Yahoo Finance. Software companies including Intuit and nuclear energy company Oklo were also among the names reporting earnings this week, providing investors with additional reads on the health of the technology and energy sectors respectively as the busy end-of-August earnings stretch continues.

Wednesday’s inflation data arrives at a particularly sensitive moment for markets given the confluence of upcoming catalysts. Beyond Nvidia’s earnings and Wednesday’s PCE reading, the market’s attention remains squarely fixed on Warsh’s Friday appearance at Jackson Hole, an event that will mark his first major public address since taking over as Fed chairman. Investors are looking for clarity on both the central bank’s near-term policy trajectory and Warsh’s broader communication style, given his reputation for offering less conventional forward guidance than some of his predecessors.

With Nvidia’s results due after Wednesday’s closing bell, alongside continued monitoring of the U.S.-Canada trade dispute and mounting anticipation ahead of Warsh’s Jackson Hole remarks, investors are likely to see continued volatility across markets through the remainder of the week as each new data point and corporate report gets weighed against the broader, still-unresolved questions surrounding both the durability of the AI-driven technology rally and the path of Federal Reserve policy heading into the fall.