CNBC Daily Open: Cool inflation and hot markets

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This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here . Disinflation in process U.S. headline inflation in June rose just 0.2% compared with May, and 3% from a year ago — the lowest level since March 2021. Both consumer price index figures were 0.1 percentage points lower than the Dow Jones estimate. Excluding food and energy prices, core CPI was 0.2% higher month on month and 4.8% higher on an annual basis. Highest close this year U.S. stocks advanced Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closing at their highest level since April 2022, after the cooler-than-expected inflation report. Asia-Pacific markets traded higher Thursday too. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged about 2.5%, leading gains in the region, while South Korea's Kospi added 0.85% as the country's central bank kept interest rates unchanged at 3.5%. China's trade trickling dry China's trade activity in June indicated the country's economic slump isn't over. The dollar value of China's exports plunged 12.4% compared with a year ago, far steeper than the 9.5% drop economists had expected as well as the 7.5% decline in May. Imports fared badly too. They sank 6.8% on an annual basis, more than May's 4.5% decline. X, meet xAI Elon Musk is already the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as well as the owner of Twitter. Now, he'll have a new title to add to that list: leader of xAI, an artificial intelligence company that aims to "understand the true nature of the universe." xAI seems to be positioned as a rival to OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. Musk will share more information on the company during a Twitter Spaces chat Friday. [PRO] It's not the end until the end June's promising CPI reading has traders betting the Federal Reserve will stop its hiking cycle soon. But Wells Fargo Securities' Michael Schumacher cautions that it might be too soon to celebrate — and suggests traders pay attention to an asset that will benefit from the Fed's last rate hike.