New Delhi, Sept. 4 -- Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh ignited expectations for an interest-rate hike in September with his hawkish Jackson Hole speech. Other Fed officials have since softened the message.

Three of the Fed's policymakers said this week that they are awaiting the August inflation data to determine whether it would be appropriate to approve an increase in the federal-funds rate at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Sept. 15-16. Their comments signaled to the stock and bond markets both that a rate hike is far from assured.

The current fed-funds target range is 3.50%-3.75%.

Warsh, who became Fed chair in May, used his Aug. 28 speech at the Fed's Jackson Hole, Wyo., symposium partly to share for the first tim...