4:13pm: BofA, Morgan Stanley post strong beats
The Dow closed Tuesday up 367 points, 1.1%, at 34,952, the Nasdaq Composite added 109 points, 0.8%, to 14,354 and the S&P 500 improved 32 points, 0.7%, to 4,555. The small-cap Russell 2000 gained 25 points, 1.3%, to 1,977.
The Dow clinched its seventh-consecutive winning session, the index's longest such streak since 2021.
Banks helped buoy markets after strong earnings. bank of America shares closed 4.5% higher after reporting a quarterly earnings beat, and Morgan Stanley stock rose 6.5% after the company beat on both the top and bottom lines.
12:05pm: Dow up for seventh straight day
US stocks were higher in noon trading on some better-than-expected big bank results and softer-than-anticipated retail sales.
At midday, the Dow gained 377 points to 34,963, while the S&P 500 added 23 points at 4,546 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 45 points to 14,290.
“Americans have gotten relief at the gas pump, but also don’t have an excessive demand for consumer goods,” TradeStation vice president of market intelligence David Russell said.
“This is modestly positive news (retail sales) for investors worried about the Fed needing to hike after July. Goldilocks marches on,” he added.
Notable movers included shares of FB Financial Corp, which climbed 7% after the financial holding company’s 2Q earnings surpassed analyst expectations.
9:40am: Retail sales miss Street’s estimates
US stocks struggled at the open on Tuesday as investors weighed up lower-than-expected June retail sales data and mixed big bank earnings from the Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.
Just after the market opened, the Nasdaq had fallen 47 points or 0.3% at 14,196 points, the S&P 500 was down 6 points or 0.1%, and the Dow Jones was flat at 34,587 points.
Retail sales rose 0.2% in June, below the forecast of 0.5%. May’s sales were revised up by 0.2% from 0.3% to 0.5%.
OANDA senior market analyst Craig Erlam noted that, while the numbers were much weaker than expected for June, the May figures were revised up so it wasn’t all bad.
“I'm not convinced today's data really changes things as far as the consumer or economy is concerned, all things considered, nor has it really changed anything on interest rate expectations, with markets almost fully pricing in a hike next week and probably no more after that,” Erlam said.
7.45am: Financial earnings to dominate
US stocks are seen opening flat to lower as investors await the latest retail sales and industrial production data, as well as a busy day for corporate earnings, including results from Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Morgan Stanley and PNC Financial.
Naeem Aslam, chief investment officer at Zaye Capital Markets commented: "So far, the banks that have reported earnings, have posted strong numbers as the higher interest rate environment has added more gains to their top line numbers. Having said this, traders and investors continue to trade very carefully as all the S&P 500 sectors closed in negative territory yesterday, but if you zoom out and look at the YTD performance of the index, it continues to unpack some stellar numbers. We are confident that as the odds of a soft landing continue to add up, there are greater chances that the US stock market is likely to perform well in the second half of this year as well."
He added: "Traders will also be paying close attention to the US retail sales data, which will be released later today. The number is of high importance, as it will tell us the real conditions of US consumers and their ability to dig deep in their pockets. Due to the fact that recent inflation numbers have shown massive improvement, the odds are that we may actually see more improvement in consumer spending as the job market and wage earnings growth both remain stable to robust."
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were down 0.01%, while those for the S&P 500 lost 0.05%, and contracts for the Nasdaq-100 slipped 0.1%.
On Monday, the DJIA recorded a sixth straight day of gains, adding 76 points, or 0.2%, to post its highest close of the year at 34,585. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.9%.