Minutes from the Fed's July policy meeting revealed policymakers prioritized tariff-driven inflation risks over labor market concerns when keeping interest rates unchanged.

Inflation expectations derived from the bond market were rising on Friday, suggesting simmering concerns about future price gains despite Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's willingness to consider cutting interest rates.

Most Federal Reserve officials highlighted inflation risks as outweighing concerns over the labor market at their meeting last month, as tariffs fueled a growing divide within the central bank’s rate-setting committee.

Behind closed doors, officials at the Federal Reserve said much the same as they've said in public: that concerns over tariffs stoking inflation led them to keep the central bank's interest rate flat in July instead of cutting it.

While opening the door for a September interest rate cut, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed the central bank would not let inflation get out of control. While there are already signs that tariffs have begun to push up prices,

The central bank retired a previous strategy and on Friday unveiled a new approach that updates how inflation and employment are balanced.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said while some recent inflation readings have come in better than expected, he hopes one “dangerous” data point is just a blip.

South Africa's rand was weaker in early trade on Tuesday, as investors looked to the Fed's Jackson Hole symposium for hints on the U.S. interest rate trajectory, while also eyeing inflation figures from Africa's most industrialised economy.