Inflation data this week has come in below forecasts. Earnings season is off to a solid start. Is this the medicine the market nees?

That sound you heard coming from Wall Street on Wednesday? A huge sigh of relief following strong earnings from Dow components Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase as well as other big banks, coupled with a smaller increase in core consumer prices for December than economists were expecting.

Global markets treaded water on Wednesday ahead of U.S. consumer price data that could potentially shift the monetary policy outlook there, while investors waited to see if earnings of big banks would match sky-high expectations.