Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller has reiterated his support for a December interest-rate increase, even if inflation moderates. At the same time, retreating oil prices are easing some market concerns, while Anthropic has pulled back preliminary pricing information for its anticipated IPO.
Bitcoin moved lower on Tuesday, declining 1.4% since midnight UTC to approximately $74,200. The drop came as traders strengthened their expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike ahead of the latest U.S. inflation figures. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), which follows the largest cryptocurrencies, also slipped 1.2% since midnight, showing little overall movement during the previous 24 hours.
Waller’s latest remarks added to expectations of further monetary tightening. The Fed governor indicated that he would support increasing borrowing costs in December even if inflation had slowed during October. He also warned that a stronger-than-expected CPI reading could make a 50-basis-point increase necessary.
Market participants are currently assigning greater probability to a 25-basis-point increase at the Federal Reserve’s December 9 meeting. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, such an adjustment would raise the central bank’s target interest-rate range to 4.00%-4.25%.
Ahead of the announcement, economists expected the Bureau of Labor Statistics to report a 0.3% monthly increase in headline CPI for October. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy expenses, was projected to advance 0.2%.
The annual inflation figures will not be published because the government shutdown in October 2025 prevented the collection of comparable price data. For September, headline CPI stood at 3.7% year over year, while core inflation was recorded at 2.6%.
Oil markets offered some positive news for investors, with crude prices declining approximately 2% over the preceding 24 hours. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped toward $84 per barrel, its lowest level since late August, while Brent crude traded near $90. The decline followed President Donald Trump’s indication that further military strikes against Iran would be paused.
Meanwhile, gold prices slipped by slightly more than 1%, falling below $4,100 per ounce. Nasdaq 100 futures also weakened after Monday’s gains, while the U.S. Dollar Index continued holding below 102.
In corporate developments, Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind Claude, withdrew preliminary IPO pricing information previously distributed to investment bankers, according to Reuters.
The withdrawn proposal reportedly involved approximately 867 million shares at an estimated price of $70 to $80 each, potentially generating as much as $69.3 billion.
Anthropic acknowledged that the circulated pricing figures were incorrect and said a revised filing would be released. However, it provided no further explanation about the inaccurate information, leaving the IPO’s proposed pricing and fundraising details uncertain.
