World stocks are mixed follow Wall Street’s mostly positive performance ahead of key U.S. inflation data that could influence the pace of the Federal Reserve’s rate cuts.

Investors are gearing up for December's crucial consumer price index to determine the direction of Fed policy.

Stock-market investors are turning jittery over something which has apparently happened only two times in the bond market since the early 1980s: The 10-year Treasury yield has jumped by about as much as the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates over the same period of time.