World stocks were mixed on Wednesday following Wall Street’s mostly positive performance before key U.S. inflation data that could influence the pace of market-boosting rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

US stocks gained after cooler-than-expected producer price index data soothed inflation concerns. The numbers on Tuesday showed wholesale inflation rose 0.2% in December on a monthly basis, compared to an estimated 0.4% increase. The reading climbed 3.3% from a year ago, below the projected 3.5% gain.

Stocks gained ground on Wall Street following an encouraging update on inflation. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in afternoon trading Tuesday after wobbling between gains and losses earlier. The Dow