U.S. equity futures edged higher on Wednesday ahead of a pivotal interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve that could mark the beginning of a new hiking cycle over the next few months. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures were up 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 161 points, or 0.3%. Futures markets were pricing in a quarter-point hike for Wednesday with 92.7% odds, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Odds of an additional quarter-point hike were 41% for the Fed’s October meeting and 27% for the Fed’s December meeting. The current target rate range is 3.5% to 3.75%. The 12-month rate on the consumer price index came in at 3.4% in August, marking a cooling from the recent high of 4.2% in May. On a month-over-month basis, CPI rose 0.4% last month, in line with expectations, though core inflation, which removes the more volatile categories of food and energy, rose 0.3%, which was more than expected. Brent Wilsey, chief investment officer of San Diego-based Wilsey Asset Management, said in a note on Wednesday that the Fed holding rates steady could have damaging ramifications. “That could surprise stocks, and surprises are rarely received well in markets, and it could also damage the Fed’s credibility and reignite concerns that the central bank is caving to political pressure to keep rates steady,” he said. The central bank’s decision on Wednesday comes amid pressure from the White House to leave rates where they are. “One of the biggest sticking points with inflation is the rise in diesel prices, which has the potential to increase costs for so many areas of the economy, from transportation, farming, and shipping,” Wilsey said. “While an interest rate hike won’t cause diesel prices to fall, higher rates could help to calm inflation in other parts of the economy, helping to offset the inflation from higher energy prices.” U.S. diesel prices hit $6 per gallon on Friday for the first time, amid ongoing supply constraints caused by the Ukraine and Iran wars. Crude oil prices are holding above $100 a barrel, despite cooling from recent highs. Global benchmark Brent crude oil futures fell more than 1% to around $107 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 2% to roughly $103 a barrel. Treasury yields have been spiking on the expectation of higher prices in the economy, with the 10-year last slightly below 5% and the 30-year at 5.346%. Amid the tense geopolitical backdrop, U.S. stocks dived on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 falling 0.45% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite losing 0.78%. Select semiconductors, cloud service providers, and other technology stocks were mostly down Tuesday following discussion over the weekend by the heads of large language model companies that they could potentially slow down the pace of product releases. Asia markets ended higher Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.69% to 63,923, while the Topix added 0.61% to end the trading day at 4,061.72. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.37% to 6,717.97, while the small-cap Kosdaq Index rose 0.44% to 815.98. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.28% to 8,696.5. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.19% to 2,4713.78, while mainland China’s CSI 300 ended the day 0.68% higher at 4,480.26. Gold prices rose on Wednesday as the dollar ​weakened and oil prices ​slipped, while investors awaited the ​U.S. Federal Reserve’s upcoming decision on interest rates for further direction. Spot gold was up 0.7% at $4,324.36 per ounce after touching a more than one-month ⁠low ‌on Monday. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose ⁠0.8% to $4,365. “Gold firms up today on easing dollar strength, a cooldown in oil ‌prices, and a pullback in U.S. bond yields,” said Nikos Tzabouras, a senior market analyst at Jefferies-owned Tradu.com. “Technically, the near-term bias remains ​to the downside, but bullion’s trajectory will be determined by the Fed’s decision.”