Stock markets mostly rose and oil prices climbed Wednesday as investors pored over data showing further spikes to inflation. A day after a report showed US annual consumer inflation in March hit the highest since December 1981, another release showed wholesale price inflation hit a record annual rate of 11.2pc. Meanwhile in Britain, data showed that UK prices had jumped at the fastest pace in three decades in March. Global inflation, already rocketing on supply constraints as economies look to fully reopen following pandemic lockdowns, is rising further on fallout from the Ukraine war. Analysts said markets had welcomed an indication that US inflation was approaching its peak, though it has raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will take more aggressive action to contain prices. Still, Wall Street enjoyed a buoyant session, with the broad-based S&P 500 piling on 1.1pc. Chris Low of FHN Financial said investors want to balance their portfolios after selling off shares in anticipation of the worrisome inflation data. “People were short going into the week, but they don’t want to be short for the holiday weekend,” Low said. US markets will be closed on Friday for Good Friday. In Europe, London and Paris ended the day barely in positive territory, while Frankfurt dipped. The gains on Wall Street also came despite a lackluster start to the corporate earnings season, as JPMorgan Chase saw its first-quarter net profit plunge by more than 40pc as it set $900mn aside to deal with potential losses due to the Ukraine conflict and inflation. Shares in JPMorgan Chase fell 3.2pc. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines surged 6.2pc as it reported a quarterly loss of $940mn, but said healthy consumer demand was translating into strong enough pricing to offset spiking fuel costs. Oil prices climbed further in a volatile trading week. “Having rebounded strongly yesterday, oil prices are showing little sign of softening after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that peace talks with Ukraine were a ‘dead-end situation’,” said market analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK. Russia is a major producer of oil and gas and the war has triggered fears of supply constraints. In currency trading, the yen hit its lowest level against the dollar in two decades, extending recent falls as the gap widens between Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy and Fed tightening. Despite being traditionally considered a haven currency, uncertainty fueled by the war in Ukraine has not caused the yen to strengthen. Instead, the Fed’s move towards a more aggressive rate-tightening policy and the shock of rising oil prices in Japan — a major importer of fossil fuels — have pushed the currency lower, analysts said.