Wall Street Today | US Inflation to Pose Fresh Test for Powell's Fed

The Federal Reserve gets fresh insight into its inflation challenge this week amid expectations US prices continued to rise at a stubbornly fast pace in the past month.

The consumer price index report for October is scheduled for Thursday, and is set to have climbed 7.9% from a year ago, only a slight slowing from 8.2% recorded in September, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Shopping malls have taken the biggest hit, with prices sliding 23% from their recent peak, according to Green Street's October price index. Apartments and warehouses followed, each tumbling 17%. Office prices are down 14%.

For all commercial-property types, the decline was the biggest since the 2008 financial crisis, when prices plummeted about 35%, according to Peter Rothemund, a researcher at the real estate analytics firm. In October alone, prices fell 7%.

The UK currency fell almost 3% versus the US dollar this week, its worst performance since late September and the biggest drop among major currencies globally. The Bank of England's struggle to get ahead of inflation has been a key driver of pound weakness all year and the latest selloff clips the pound's recovery from the UK’s disastrous mini-budget just over a month ago. Investors now say the growing divergence in the approach to inflation at the BOE and the Federal Reserve is a reason to shun the UK currency.

Diesel and heating oil inventories in the US Northeast were getting worryingly low. Officials swung into action, organizing a series of calls between Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and several of the country's biggest oil refiners to discuss strategies to boost stockpiles.

"Month after month, these companies have posted record profits that they’ve then used to pad shareholder pockets rather than boost production and lower gas prices," said White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan. "Month after month, we've offered them every opportunity and incentive to change their behavior."

The layoffs are expected to affect many thousands of employees and an announcement is planned to come as soon as Wednesday, according to the people. Meta reported more than 87,000 employees at the end of September. Company officials already told employees to cancel nonessential travel beginning this week, the people said.