Welcome to Seeking Office Wall Street Lunch.

Our afternoon update on today's market action news and analysis.

Good afternoon. Today is Thursday, October 12th, and I'm your host, Kim Khan. Our top story so far.

The Consumer Price Index came in a little hotter than expected for September,

which may bolster the case for a Fed rate hike before the year is out.

The CPI rose 0.4% last month, keeping the annual

rate steady at 3.7%. Economists have predicted a monthly rise of 0.3%, bringing year-on-year

down a touch to 3.6%.

Excluding food and energy, the core CPI was up 0.3%,

falling to 4.1% annually.

Both were in line with forecasts.

Yale's Martha Gimble noted that Shel was the biggest contributor to the rise in the core

rate, but that does reflect a large jump in hotel prices.

Owners equivalent rent re-accelerated with a three-month annualized gain rising to 5.8% Schwad's strategist

Liz Ann Saunders highlighted.

Fed Funds futures are still pricing in little chance of a Fed move at the start of November,

with two main data points, jobs and

CPI in the bag. But the chance of a quarter point hike in December move back

up to 40%. Alliance advisor Muhammad Alarian says,

analytically, it is a reminder of the challenges of the final mile of battling inflation, especially when core services inflation still remains an issue, and there is concern about the spillover into coarse

CPI from higher energy prices.

The markets had a need jerk reaction to the report,

...