This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

Core CPI below estimates
The U.S. consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% on the month in December, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.9%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.2% on a monthly basis and 3.2% for the year. The annual reading was down 0.1 percentage points from November. Both core readings were also 0.1 percentage point below expectations.

Ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas
Israel and Hamas on Wednesday reached a ceasefire and hostage release deal to end a 15-month war in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli security cabinet must still vote on the agreement before its implementation. If approved, the first phase of the deal will include a full ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the populated areas of the Gaza enclave, U.S. President Joe Biden said.

Markets enjoy best day in months
U.S. stocks popped on Wednesday for their best day since November, on the back of the cooler-than-expected inflation reading and Treasury yields easing. Asia-Pacific markets tracked Wall Street higher Thursday. South Korea’s Kospi index advanced more than 1% after the Bank of Korea unexpectedly kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 3%. The BOK also warned that the country’s gross domestic product is “highly likely” to miss forecasts for 2024 and 2025.

TSMC sees record year in sales
Taiwan-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped around 3.8% after the company reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue that beat LSEG consensus estimates. The company released its December revenue last week, bringing its annual total to 2.9 trillion New Taiwan dollars ($88 billion) — its highest annual sales since the company went public in 1994.

Big banks blew past earnings estimates
JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs handily beat Wall Street estimates on both profit and revenue for the fourth quarter. JPMorgan executives said the bank will be boosting share buybacks even as CEO Jamie Dimon in May called the stock expensive. Separately, Goldman CEO David Solomon said at an event after the bank’s earnings call that IPO activity is “going to pick up” because of “an improved business environment.”

[PRO] Who could buy Ubisoft?
Ubisoft appointed advisors on Jan. 9 to review its business direction. That’s stirred up speculation over who a possible buyer could be. CNBC’s Ryan Browne spoke to industry analysts to find out who might be a likely candidate to take over Ubisoft if the French gaming publisher does put itself up for sale.

Finally, a string of good news for bulls, after a dismal start of the year during which markets posted weekly losses because of dogged inflation worries.

Top of the page: U.S. inflation in December was lower than expected. To be sure, headline inflation, for the month, was 0.1 percentage point higher than the Dow Jones consensus estimate.

But the U.S. Federal Reserve pays more attention to core inflation because it strips out the volatile swings in energy and food prices, giving a more accurate reflection of price changes in the economy. And core inflation, on a monthly and annual basis, was cooler than expected.

Indeed, as CNBC’s Jeff Cox noted, “Much of the move higher in the CPI came from a 2.6% gain in energy prices for the month, pushed higher by a 4.4% surge in gasoline. That was responsible for about 40% of the index’s gain, according to the BLS.”

“Today’s CPI number takes additional rate hikes off the table, which some market participants were beginning to prematurely price in,” said John Kerschner, head of U.S. securitized products and portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell sharply, and is now 4.655%, compared with last Friday’s close of 4.774%, as traders moderated their interest rate expectations. 

That gave stocks room to breathe. The S&P 500 jumped 1.83%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.65% and the Nasdaq Composite popped 2.45%. It was the best day for all three major averages since Nov. 6.

Upbeat earnings reports by banks also added to the cheer. Their financial results often serve as a forecast for the general direction of the economy: Banks’ toplines expand when businesses and consumers undertake more financial activity, which, in turn, help to grow the economy.

For investors, the stars were aligned on Wednesday. But just as the skies constantly shift, volatility, in the form of a new incoming U.S. administration and policies, remain.

— CNBC’s Jeff Cox, Hakyung Kim and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.

BEIJING — As promised government support is still to meaningfully kick in, China’s economy hasn’t yet seen the turnaround investors have been waiting for.

While policymakers have, since late September, cut interest rates and announced broad stimulus plans, details on highly anticipated fiscal support won’t likely come until an annual parliamentary meeting in March. Official GDP figures for 2024 are due Friday.

“China’s fiscal stimulus is not yet enough to address the drags on economic growth … We are cautious long term given China’s structural challenges,” BlackRock Investment Institute said in a weekly report Tuesday. The firm, which is modestly overweight Chinese stocks, indicated it was ready to buy more if the circumstances changed.

Of growing urgency in the meantime is the drop in domestic demand, and worries about deflation. Consumer prices barely rose in 2024, up by just 0.5% after excluding volatile food and energy prices. That’s the slowest rise in at least 10 years, according to records available on the Wind Information database.

“Consumer spending remains weak, foreign investment is declining, and some industries face growth pressure,” Yin Yong, Beijing city mayor, said Tuesday in an official annual report.

The U.K. economy grew at a lackluster pace of 0.1% in November, data from the Office of National Statistics showed Thursday.

This compares with the 0.2% month-on-month growth expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Monthly real gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.1% in October, following a decline of 0.1% in September and growth of 0.2% in August.

The data comes as the Bank of England considers whether to lower interest rates at its next meeting on Feb.6.

A cooler-than-expected annual inflation print for December, out Wednesday, fueled broad expectations of a 25-basis-point rate cut when the central bank meets.

Such a trim would bring the key interest rate from 4.75% to 4.5% although BOE policymakers will be factoring in inflationary pressures, such as resilient wage growth and uncertainty over Britain’s economic outlook. The central bank’s inflation target is 2%.

The Labour government and Treasury have been under pressure in recent weeks amid rising government borrowing costs and questions over their fiscal plans. Both were given something of a reprieve on Wednesday when the latest inflation data showed consumer price growth had cooled more than expected to 2.5% in December, with core price growth slowing further.

The print came in below the expectations of economists polled by Reuters, who had anticipated the inflation rate would remain unchanged from the 2.6% reading of November.

Core inflation, which excludes more volatile food and energy prices, came in at 3.2% in the twelve months to December, down from 3.5% in November.

The U.K.’s inflation rate had hit a more than three-year low of 1.7% in September, but monthly prices had accelerated since then on the back of higher fuel costs and the price of services. In December, the annual services inflation rate stood at 4.4%, down from 5% in November.

The U.K. economy has found itself in a tight spot of late, with economists voicing concerns over the country’s sluggish growth prospects and worries over headwinds caused by both external factors, such as potential trade tariffs once President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, along with internal fiscal and economic challenges that have dogged the Labour government and Treasury since the October budget.

Cartier owner Richemont on Thursday reported a 10% increase in fiscal third-quarter sales even as China demand weighed, in a positive signal for the health of Europe’s luxury sector over the holiday shopping period.

Sales rose to 6.2 billion euros ($6.38 billion) at constant exchange rates in the three months to the end of December, which the Swiss luxury brand dubbed its “highest ever” quarterly sales figure. That was well above 1% increase expected by analysts in a consensus cited by RBC, according to Reuters.

The company reported double-digit growth across all regions except Asia Pacific, where sales fell 7%, led by an 18% decline in the combined regions of mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

China, once a key driver of luxury demand, has been a major drag on the sector as it has struggled to emerge from a post-Covid-19 pandemic macro-economic slump.

The results mark a return to growth for the company, which reported a 1% year-on-year dip in first-half sales to September, citing a challenging macroeconomic backdrop and tougher conditions in China. Sales for that six-month period came in at 10.1 billion euros.

The high-end group had until then been an outlier in a broader luxury downturn, reporting record full-year sales in May.

Luca Solca, senior analyst for global luxury goods at Bernstein, said that the Thursday results provided a positive early signal for the return to health of the wider luxury sector.

Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, excluding greater China, “have both seen strong sequentially improvements, driven by higher domestic demand and strong tourist inflows, while Americas continue to be driven by strong local demand,” Solca said in a note.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.