The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inched down 0.1% between November and December, which is what the Bloomberg consensus expected. The Core CPI, , which excludes volatile energy and food prices, gained 0.3% over the same period, also in line with expectations.

The December consumer-price index gained 6.5% year-over-year, after rising 7.1% in November, while the core CPI was up 5.7% after a 6% rise a month earlier.

However, US weekly jobless claims came in at 205,000 last week, lower that the 215,000 expected, signaling that the job market remains tight.

Investors clearly don't know what to think of this data, which perhaps was not as good as they hoped. They need to see the beginning of something positive for equity markets, and forget about 2022. U.S. indices looked shaky yesterday before ending at the day's high. The Nasdaq 100, a natural marker of risk appetite, was on its fourth consecutive session of gains after a 1.76% gain yesterday. It passed the 11,400-point mark, returning to its mid-December levels.

The big hope is that the US central bank won its fight against inflation, which should allow it to normalize its monetary policy in the foreseeable future. Recession fears and the second-round effects of higher policy rates have now taken a step back. While there was little doubt that price inflation will continue to slow, the proportion matters. The latest figures have been more favorable than the market had expected on average, but today's were in line with expectations…This explains the mixed reaction.

 

Economic highlights of the day:

Weekly unemployment figures and December inflation are on the agenda. All the agenda is here. Last night, China reported inflation of 1.8% in December and an average price increase of 2% for the whole of 2022, the dream of every western central banker.

The dollar is slightly down to EUR 0.9274 and GBP 0.8204. The ounce of gold is up to 1893 dollars. Oil strengthened, with North Sea Brent crude at USD 83.83 per barrel and US WTI light crude at USD 78.69. The yield on 10-year US debt rises to 3.59%. Bitcoin is accelerating to USD 18,200.

 

In corporate news:

* Walt Disney gained 1.3 percent in premarket trading after activist investor Nelson Peltz asked to join the entertainment company's board, which the company declined.

* Alphabet - Alphabet's health sciences subsidiary, Verily Life Sciences, announced Wednesday that it had laid off more than 200 employees, or about 15 percent of its workforce.

* Blackrock is cutting its workforce, up to 500 affected jobs, after several years of growth, a source close to the matter reported Wednesday.

* AMD on Wednesday announced the appointment of Jean Hu, a senior executive at Marvell Technology, as chief financial officer.

 

Analyst recommendations:

American Tower: Deutsche Bank upgrades to buy from hold. PT up 11% to $254.

Antofagasta: Barclays downgrades to equal-weight from overweight. PT down 17% to 1,450 pence.

Crown Castle: Barclays downgrades to equal-weight from overweight. PT inches up 0.3% to $152.

Direct Line: Jefferies remains "Hold" with a price target reduced from GBp 220 to GBp 175.

Experian: RBC Capital Markets downgrades to underperform from sector perform. PT down 13% to 2,500 pence.

Halliburton: Wolfe Research upgrades to outperform from underperform. PT up 24% to $51.

Netflix: Jefferies upgrades to buy from hold. PT up 18% to $385.

Pearson: Kepler Cheuvreux downgrades to reduce from hold. PT down 3.3% to 900 pence.

Rio Tinto: Berenberg upgrades from sell to buy targeting GBp 6700.