Unhedged feels only a little reassurance. We thought inflation was all but beaten four months ago, and were wrong; once burnt, and all that. Despite this good report, however you look at it, core inflation is closer to 3 per cent than 2 per cent, and the trend is sideways, not down.

Reports of the demise of US inflation have been greatly exaggerated. Today on the show, Rob Armstrong and Aiden Reiter discuss the continuing high numbers and what the Fed might do about it this year. Also they go long Ohio State and short New Year’s resolutions.

Economists polled by Reuters expect Wednesday’s US consumer price index to show inflation of 2.8 per cent in December, up from 2.7 per cent a month earlier. They anticipate that core inflation, which strips out volatile components such as food and energy prices,

Yields down, stocks up. After government bonds sold off sharply the week before, buyers were back after favourable inflation prints calmed investors’ nerves in the US and UK in the past week. As far as returning to normal it might be as close as we are going to get for some time.

Let’s face it, while they are intellectually fascinating, there are no good news stories about bond markets. It’s always “someone’s defaulted”, “someone’s crashing the economy”, or some other such awfulness.

Banks were among Wednesday’s biggest gainers after several of Wall Street’s biggest lenders posted big rises in quarterly profits, driven by strength in investment banking and trading. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo all jumped about 6 per cent.

The governing council reiterated in December that the disinflation process is on track and that it expects to achieve its 2 per cent target in the medium term. Updated forecasts from then expect lower headline inflation rates of 2.1 per cent for 2025 and 1.9 per cent for 2026.

Shares in UK bakery chain Greggs fell more than 10 per cent on Thursday with the company blaming weak consumer confidence for a slowdown in sales.

The central bank’s recent infusion of financial-market brawn includes Beth Hammack, who worked for three decades at Goldman Sachs.

Most U.S. stocks rose following an encouraging update on inflation, but drops for Eli Lilly and some other influential stocks kept indexes in check

Asian shares are mixed after gains for oil and gas producers helped offset drops for Nvidia and other Big Tech companies on Wall Street.

Israel and Hamas agreed to pause fighting yesterday and US banks had some good news to report. Plus, inflation in the US and UK is proving to be pretty sticky. But the latest figures offer some hope. I’m Sonja Hutson and here’s the news you need to start your day.