Most of the main US stock benchmarks fell on Wednesday, after the release of the US inflation data, while the cooperate earnings reports season kicked off.

Major US banks kicked off the Q3 earnings reports season, which has a huge impact on the banking sector.

Data showed today that the US consumer price index rose 0.4% during September, beating forecasts of 0.3%.

The core consumer price index reading (excluding energy and food prices) rose 0.2% last month as expected.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 0.3% or 113 points to 34,264 as of 13:54 GMT, and S&P 500 fell 0.1% or 3 points to 4,346, while Nasdaq rose 0.3% or 44 points to 14,509.

Oil prices continued to fall as the US market opened on Tuesday, pulling back from multi-year highs on profit-taking, amid global demand concerns after the IMF slashed its economic growth forecast for most major economies, in addition to expected hike in the US crude inventories for the third straight week.

US crude fell 0.9% to $79.83 a barrel, after opening at $80.57, and hit a low at $80.76, and Brent crude fell 0.5% to $82.58 a barrel, after opening at $83.08, and hit a low at $83.56.

The US crude gained 0.1% yesterday, in the fourth straight daily gain, after it hit a 7-year high at $82.15. 

Brent fell 0.5%, the first daily loss, after it hit the highest since October 2018 at $84.58.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its estimate for economic growth in the US and other major economies, and attributed that to concerns over the new wave of the coronavirus, and expectations it would halt the global economic recovery.

This raised concerns about the global demand for fuel during the last quarter of 2021, and about the widening supply deficit.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its preliminary report on the US crude inventories later today, and the US Energy Information Administration will release the official data on Wednesday.

The API reported last week that the US crude stocks rose for the second time in a row, a negative sign about demand and consumption levels in the US.

At 12:30 GMT, the US economy released its reading for the consumer price index, which rose by 0.4% in September, more than forecasts of 0.3%, and more than the previous reading of 0.3%. 

The core reading (excluding food and fuel prices) rose by 0.2%, on par with forecasts, and higher than the previous reading of 0.2%. This data is positive for the US dollar.

European stocks rose on Wednesday, and hit a 2-week high while on track for the second daily gain in 3 days thanks to improved market sentiment after a drop in the US T-bond yields, ahead of key US inflation data, and the release of the US Fed meeting minutes.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.5% as of 11:17 GMT, and the highest level since September 28 at 459.88 points, after closing lower by 0.1% yesterday due to weak data on confidence levels in the European and German economy during October

The tech sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, with a rise of more than 2%, following a drop in the US bond market.

The 10-year US Treasury yield fell 0.5% today, deepening losses for the second straight day, and pulled back further from a 4-month high of 1.636%, which improved the risk appetite in global stock markets.

This comes ahead of key US inflation data, and the release of the US Fed meeting minutes, which is expected to provide insight about the timing the Fed will start to taper its bond-buying program, which is an essential step before an interest rate hike.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% today, after the index closed lower by 0.25% on Friday, in its third straight daily loss.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.5%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.2%, Germany's DAX index rose 0.7%, and the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.1%.