Investing.com – U.S. stocks rallied on Friday, as better-than-expected second quarter earnings from a trio of banks boosted sentiment, offsetting weak economic data that missed analysts’ estimates.
Three of the six biggest U.S. banks – JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) kicked off second quarter earnings on Friday, reporting profits that topped Wall Street estimates.
A weak quarter of trading activity, however, weighed on top-line growth, dragging shares of both Citigroup and JPMorgan lower.
The better than expected batch of earnings came ahead of a pair of economic reports showing a slowdown in inflation and retail sales pointing to potential headwinds for the U.S. economy.
The rate of inflation over the past 12 months slowed to 1.6% in June from 1.9% in the prior month, and it is down from a five-year high of 2.7% just five months ago.
Economist had expected an inflation reading of 1.7%,
In a separate report the Depart of Commerce said retail sales dipped by 0.2% in June, missing economists’ forecasts of a 0.2% increase.
It was the second-straight month of timid retail sales activity.
The bullish day on Wall Street saw all three main U.S. indexes end positive for the week, with the Dow and S&P closing at record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 21,638.49. The S&P 500 closed 0.43% higher while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6312.46, up 0.61%.
‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) up 1.7%, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) up 1.4% and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) up 1.3%
JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) down 0.9%, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) down 0.8% and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) down 0.3%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.