Signs of inflation are roiling asset markets

Hard drive: Employees assemble components of the BMW Series 3 vehicle in Mexico. BMW and other automakers have been forced to halt production due to chip shortages, a factor that could push up inflation. ─ Bloomberg

NEW YORK: Over and over again, United States Federal Reserve (Fed) officials have advised that any pickup in inflation this year was bound to be transitory. Traders in financial markets, however, aren’t so sure.

Investors have become fixated on widespread signs of price pressures as commodities like copper and lumber surge to records, and the bond market’s expectation for inflation over the next decade climbs to an eight-year high.