Bitcoin and Ether posted modest gains after the August U.S. consumer price index (CPI) failed to materially change expectations for the Federal Reserve's September interest-rate path. The CPI rose 0.4% from July and 3.4% from a year earlier, with energy prices pushing headline inflation higher as core inflation continued to slow. Bitcoin briefly approached $79,000 before retreating to about $77,800, while Ether rose above $2,500. Lewis Huang, a Bitget analyst, said the energy-driven increase could allow the Federal Reserve to treat part of the headline move as temporary. Fabian Dori, chief investment officer at Sygnum Bank, said rate expectations could be repriced if core inflation proves stronger than expected, but attributed Bitcoin's current rise more to institutional allocations than excessive leverage.