"The PPI read certainly adds more fuel to the fire for those who feel we may finally be on a downward inflation trend," said Mike Loewengart, head of model portfolio construction at Morgan Stanley's Global Investment Office.Inflation has soared during the pandemic era as supply chains could not keep with overheated demand for long-lasting big-ticket items, particularly those dependent on semiconductors.Markets on Tuesday afternoon were pricing in about an 80% chance that the Fed would downshift in rate hikes in December, with a 0.5 percentage point increase after four straight 0.75 percentage point moves.Vice Chair Lael Brainard said Monday she expects the pace of hikes soon will slow, through rates are likely to still go higher.In other economic news Tuesday, the New York Fed's Empire State Manufacturing Survey for November registered a reading of 4.5%, an increase of 14 percentage points on a monthly basis and much better than the estimate for a -6% reading."