Major U.S. indices surged Wednesday after consumer inflation came in lower than expected, and major banks posted strong fourth-quarter earnings. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index increased 0.

U.S. consumer prices increased by the most in nine months in December amid higher costs for energy goods, pointing to still-elevated inflation that aligns with the Federal Reserve's projections for fewer interest rate cuts this year.

Shelter costs were 4.6% higher in December than a year earlier, and they account for more than a third of the consumer price index.

The increase in the consumer price index for the 25-county region that includes Long Island was fueled in part by the cost of natural gas, electricity and housing.

Inflation, as measured by the producer price index, rose three-tenths of a percentage point to 3.3% for the year ending in December, hinting that the economy may not yet have vanquished price pressures.

On Wednesday, the price of bitcoin continued rising, surging to over $99,000 as it looked poised to return to the $100,000 mark, driven by new inflation data. Minutes after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics unveiled new data from the Consumer Price Index, bitcoin’s price jumped by $1,500, representing a 2% price improvement for the day.

While the overall consumer price index rose, the core measure that omits food and energy costs was below estimates.

This contradicts months of claims from Jerome Powell who has insisted that price inflation was rapidly returning to the Fed's two-percent price inflation goal.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in December, after

Consumer price growth ticked up in December, a sign President-elect Donald Trump will inherit the inflation issues that dogged the Biden administration as he re-takes the White House next week.

Egg prices have risen across the nation by roughly 38 percent over the past year. That brought the average cost of a dozen eggs to 3.65 U.S. dollars in November, from 2.14 dollars during the same month a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index data.