Key Takeaways A relatively tame inflation report Tuesday boosted investors' hopes that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in September.Fed officials have kept rates high out of concern that President Donald Trump's wide-ranging tariffs will ignite inflation.

But so-called core inflation — which excludes volatile food and energy costs — rose above 3 percent for the first time in six months as more businesses began to pass along the cost of the administration’s tariffs to American consumers.

For much of the spring, inflation data mostly defied concerns that Trump’s tariffs would ignite price increases, surprising analysts who had braced for higher inflation and weak