A series of strong economic data has persuaded investors swing behind US central banker hints that the Federal Reserve will only cut interest rates gradually in the coming months. Next week’s inflation figures mark the next point to shape investor thinking. 

Thursday sees consumer price inflation figures with producer price numbers due on Friday. Before both, the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s September meeting, due on Wednesday, should reveal more about the debate that led the bank’s rate-setting committee to cut rates by half a percentage point in its first divided decision in almost two decades. 

A blowout payrolls report last week showed the US adding 240,000 jobs in September, far more than forecast, and pushing futures contracts to imply about a 90 per cent probability that the Federal Reserve will only cut interest rates by a quarter-point when it meets in early November.