Nasdaq logs its best win streak since September as stocks rise ahead of December inflation report

• US stocks surged on Wednesday with the Nasdaq 100 notching its first four-day win streak since September.
• Investors are awaiting the release of the December CPI report on Thursday, with estimates of a 6.5% year-over-year rise.
• Bank earnings kick off the fourth-quarter reporting season this Friday.

Mega-cap tech stocks powered the stock market higher on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq 100 jumping as 1.76%.

The gain helped the Nasdaq notch a four-day win streak, its best showing since September. Investors have turned their attention to the highly anticipated December consumer price index report, which is set to be released Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Consensus expects headline inflation to come in at 6.5% year-over-year, and for core inflation to be 5.7%. On a month-over-month basis, headline and core inflation are expected to be -0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.

The December CPI report will inform investors as to whether the Federal Reserve needs to continue hiking interest rates aggressively to tame inflation, or if the central bank can pull back as inflation shows fresh signs of cooling off. Consumer inflation has already slowed to 7.1% in November from 9.1% in June.

After the Thursday CPI report, investors will turn their attention to fourth-quarter earnings, which are set to kick off this Friday with the banks.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 3,969.61, up 1.28%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,973.01, up 0.80% (268.91 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 10,931.67, up 1.76%

Here's what else happened today:

• Bed Bath and Beyond soared as much as 67% and led a broader rally in popular meme-stocks, even as the retailer's financial picture turns grim.
• The Wall Street trading playbook for Thursday's CPI report outlines the potential for a 3% surge or a 3% decline in stock prices, depending on where the inflation numbers land.
• Crypto giant Binance admitted that it hasn't always maintained the reserves needed to keep the price of its BUSD stablecoin fixed at $1, creating a shortfall of as much as $1 billion in backing for the token.
• Billionaire investor Jeff Gundlach said investors should be watching the bond market rather than the Federal Reserve if they're trying to gauge where US interest rates will stand at the end of 2023.
• Nikhil Wahi, the brother of a former Coinbase product manager, was sentenced to 10 months in prison on Tuesday in what prosecutors have called the first-ever insider trading case for cryptocurrency.
• Market strategist Ed Yardeni said stocks are in a bull market as investors grow less concerned about a potential recession.

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 3.37% to $77.65 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, jumped 3.55% to $82.94.
• Gold edged up 0.23% to $1,880.90 per ounce.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell seven basis points to 3.55%.
• Bitcoin rose 0.70% to $17,535, and ether climbed 0.90% to $1,343.