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Rate hikes are (still) coming, gasoline prices fell, but rents are soaring.Hikes comingFederal Reserve officials responded to softening infl [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Rate hikes are (still) coming, gasoline prices fell, but rents are soaring. Hikes coming Federal Reserve officials responded to [softening inflation]( data by saying it [doesn’t change]( the US central bank’s path toward even higher interest rates this year and next. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, who prior to the pandemic was the central bank’s most dovish policy maker, said Wednesday that he wants the Fed’s benchmark interest rate at 3.9% by the end of this year and at 4.4% by the end of 2023. Yesterday's stock rally was fueled by bets that the Fed may turn less hawkish. Yet [market observers]( cautioned that policy makers will want to see months more of evidence that price gains are slowing before they change their view. [Economists]( are divided on whether slower CPI growth means the Fed could ease its aggressive rate-hiking program. Energy prices US average retail gasoline prices [fell below]( $4 a gallon to the lowest level since early March, according to data from AAA. While that may suggest some solace for consumers, the outlook isn't all that great: the [wholesale cost]( of gasoline in New York surged more than 40% against futures after regional supplies sank to the lowest level in a decade, raising the risk of shortages. Soaring rents Rental costs in the US [are soaring]( at the fastest pace in more than three decades, surpassing a median of $2,000 a month for the first time ever and pushing rents above pre-pandemic levels [in most]( major cities. Increases are particularly steep in metropolitan areas that saw large influxes of new residents during the pandemic, but the rental market is sparing almost nowhere and no one. Rally slows Stocks [trimmed a rally]( on Thursday spurred by softer-than-expected US inflation data. European stocks gave up most of an initial advance. S&P 500 futures were off their highs for the session, up 0.4% at 5:50 a.m. New York time, after the cash gauge hit a three-month high on Wednesday. A dollar index slipped, adding to Wednesday's retreat that was the biggest since the onset of the pandemic. Short-term Treasury yields held a drop on investors’ scaled-back expectations of how aggressively the Fed will have to tighten monetary policy. Oil edged higher after the International Energy Agency boosted its forecast for global demand growth this year. Coming up... Weekly jobless-claims data out today has added importance after the inflation data hinted at room for future dovish surprises from the Fed. The number is expected at 265,000 and continuing claims are forecast at 1.42 million. The producer prices index will also be closely scrutinized for any hint that the upstream inflation is starting to soften. Earnings include Brookfield, Zurich Insurance, Hapag-Lloyd, China Mobile and Semiconductor Manufacturing. What we've been reading Here's what caught our eye over the past 24 hours. - The GOP [vows revenge]( for the Trump probes. - [Russia lost aircraft]( in Crimea base blasts. - Where celebrities go to fix their [$5,000 sneakers](. - [JPMorgan gold traders]( found guilty after spoofing trial. - [Rhine withers]( to crisis level. - [China’s mounting risks]( set stage for PBOC to rein in stimulus. - Whistles start to blow at the [FBI](. And finally, here’s what Joe’s interested in this morning The market has staged a stunning rebound from the depths in June, with the Nasdaq now having bounced 20% off the lows. [Yesterday's cool inflation print]( (the headline number actually declined sequentially every so slightly) may mark the beginning of a narrative change. But the outlook remains incredibly uncertain. For one thing,there's still just tons of work to do to get inflation down from its current level to anything the Fed would be comfortable with. Speaking of uncertainty, on the new episode of the Odd Lots podcast, we speak with Pimco CIO Dan Ivascyn about how he's positioned in the market. And the theme that really comes through is just not having too many chips on the table. He's not exactly gloomy, or particularly negative on markets. There's just a lot that can still go wrong. Anyway, it's a really thorough discussion on credit, mortgages, housing, rates, and more. Check it out here or on [Apple]( or [Spotify](. Follow Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal on Twitter [@TheStalwart]( Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. 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