Market red flags likely to prompt a Fed slowdown

Tricky times: People walk past the New York Stock Exchange. Thin bond-market liquidity will add pressure to the Fed’s efforts to reduce its balance sheet, analysts suggest. — AP

NEW YORK: Strategists are looking beyond the key issue of inflation for other potential market metrics that may cause the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to slow its aggressive cycle of interest-rate hikes.

An ugly August reading for US consumer prices last week cemented bets on a third straight 75 basis-point move when the central bank hands down its next decision.