The big U.S. CPI numbers finally are out to reign over markets. Consumer prices rose 8.5% in July, less than expected, as inflation pressures seem to have eased. According to Dow Jones estimates, the consumer price index, CPI, was expected to rise 8.7% in July from a year ago, with the annual pace rising to 6.1%. There are also hourly and weekly earnings, wholesale inventories and MBA mortgage implications and a monthly budget statement to dig into today.

Elevated inflation is still prompting the U.S. Postal Service to seek higher prices for stamps and services in January, just 5 months after its recent hike, as it continues to lose money. Meanwhile, Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.2%. S&P 500 futures gained 1.7%, while Nasdaq Composite futures jumped 2.4% as of 5:38 a.m. CET.

Tonight’s company results include quarterly numbers from Walt Disney (DIS). While investors will digest the entertainment giant’s financials, they will also pay keen attention to its streaming subscriber numbers.

Elon Musk reportedly sold $6.9 billion worth of Tesla (TSLA) stock, saying he wanted to avoid an unprepared quick sale in the event he’s forced to go ahead with his deal to acquire Twitter. Tesla's CEO tweeted that he was done selling and would buy shares in the EV maker if the Twitter deal bogged down. Tesla stock rose about 3.25% at the time of writing, while Twitter (TWTR) jumped 3.13%. Musk has now realized about $32 billion worth of Tesla shares since November.

European markets were mostly higher today. At the time of writing, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.89%, British FTSE 100 rose 0.38% while the French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.71%, and the German DAX rose 1.03%. The inflation rate in Germany fell to 7.5% in July MoM from 7.6% in June.

Asian markets traded broadly lower earlier this morning. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.65%, while China’s Shanghai Composite eased by 0.54% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.96%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also fell 0.5%, while India’s S&P BSE Sensex slipped 0.1%.

China’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 2.7% in July from 2.5% in June, while producer price inflation fell to a 17-month low of 4.2% YoY in July. Producer prices in Japan also climbed, by 8.6% YoY in July, against a revised 9.4% increase in June. Corporatewise in the region, Japan's Honda (7267.T) raised the outlook for FY 2022 operating profit thanks to a weaker yen, but warned against excessive optimism as it sees the microchips shortage persisting and is concerned about an economic slowdown. The Japanese multinational holding company SoftBank Group (SFTBY, SFTBF) announced earlier today that it will take in a gain of 4.6 trillion Yen, or approximately $34 billion for settling prepaid forward contracts that use shares of Alibaba Group (BABA). The move by Softbank will reduce its stake in the Chinese tech firm from 23.7% to 14.6%.