U.S. PPI and retail sales data will be released tonight, and rising energy costs may continue to pass through to the corporate sector.

20:30 Beijing Time tonight, the U.S. will release September PPI data and retail sales figures, widely known as the "Terror Data". Market forecasts currently show September’s headline PPI is expected to rise 0.6% month-on-month, significantly higher than August’s 0.4%, while core PPI is projected to increase 0.3% month-on-month. If the released data meets expectations, it indicates that price pressures in the U.S. production sector continue to mount. Bill Adams, chief U.S. economist at Fifth Third Commercial Bank, noted that a strong PPI reading could further raise the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate hike in October. Energy costs are likely to remain a key driver of PPI. Crude oil, gasoline and diesel prices have stayed at high levels recently, and sectors like transportation, logistics and manufacturing are more sensitive to energy costs, meaning the production sector is usually impacted more directly than consumer prices. If September’s headline PPI hits 0.6% month-on-month, it signals that rising energy costs are continuing to pass through to the corporate sector. Investors will closely monitor the extent of energy price pass-through to the production sector and its impact on U.S. consumer resilience, as the data could alter Fed rate hike pricing and trigger market volatility.