Inflation bellwether

Consumer price index Investors will have their eye on the seasonally adjusted percent change government’s latest monthly measure of prices at the consumer level.

Financial markets have been unsettled lately by signs pointing to higher inflation. Traders fear that a pickup in inflation will lead the

Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than previously expected. The Labor Department releases its consumer price index today. Economists expect the

February reading to show a gain of

0.2 percent.