Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday goods price inflation will pick up over the course of the summer as President Donald Trump’s tariffs work their way to U.S. consumers, who he argued would bear some of those costs.

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, but stayed at levels consistent with a further loss of labor market momentum in June and softening economic activity.

U.S. central bankers are increasingly split over the appropriate path of policy, with the median of fresh forecasts published on Wednesday still pointing to a half percentage point of rate cuts by year-end, but a rising minority expecting no rate cuts at all.

Asian stocks broadly declined on Thursday with Japan and Hong Kong leading losses, as geopolitical tensions escalated after a media report stated the U.S. was preparing for a potential military strike on Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump once again lashed out against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday, just hours after the central bank left interest rates unchanged and remained non-committal to future easing.

Senior U.S. officials are preparing for the possibility of a strike against Iran by as soon as this weekend, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, although the situation still remains unclear.