US October CPI due at 21:30 ET, annual rate unavailable after 2025 shutdown gap

The missing annual figure is the real story here: a shutdown-induced gap in the base series means markets are flying on month-on-month data alone at a moment when the Fed's December decision still hinges on inflation direction. That raises the weight on the core reading, which economists expect to show the smallest gain in three months, and makes any surprise in the monthly numbers more consequential than usual. Whether the softer core expectation holds, and how the Fed frames a report without a year-on-year anchor, is the open question.