"This is not going to be music to the Fed's ears," Nuveen chief investment officer of global equities Saira Malik said on Bloomberg TV.
"The Fed is going to be acknowledging that inflation is going to be running hotter going forward. We're also dealing with peak earnings growth in the second quarter and also the Delta variant. That makes for a tough climb in the second half of this year."
Gold is up marginally at $1813/oz, while three-month LME commodity prices are mostly flatish.
The MySteel 62% Australian iron ore fines price was up 0.9% to US$218.50 per tonne as Pilbara Ports Authority reported record throughput for the 2021 financial year.
Iron ore is also a hot topic due to Singapore International Ferrous Week.
"As we enter the second half of the year, all eyes will be on the extent to which Chinese demand slows and Brazilian supply grows," Wood Mackenzie head of iron ore research Rohan Kendall said.
"We still believe prices will be lower in H2 than H1 as Chinese credit tightening cools down construction related demand and Brazilian mine production accelerates. But neither is a safe bet and the balance of risk leans towards demand overperformance and supply under-performance."
WoodMac expects iron ore to average $185/t in the current quarter, and believes the price peaked during the June quarter.
