US Inflation Data Brings Relief, Global Markets Mostly Fall

Global markets were mostly lower on Friday after US inflation data showed an improvement in July. The S&P 500 futures were little changed, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.1%. Oil prices rebounded after a decline the day before.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index dropped 0.3% to 10,744.31 due to Nigel Farage's win in a special election. Germany's DAX rose 0.5% to 26,442.54, while France's CAC 40 edged down by less than 0.1%. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6%, and South Korea's Kospi rose 2.4%

Investors were relieved by the US wholesale inflation report, which showed prices were 4.7% higher last month compared to a year earlier. This was lower than June's rate of 5.5% and slightly better than economists expected.

The Federal Reserve may decide to hold off on interest rate hikes if inflation continues to trend downward. Higher rates would help control inflation, but at the cost of slowing down the economy and making borrowing more expensive.