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16/07/24
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Wall Street Higher on Stronger Corporate Earnings, Retail Sales at New Record High
On Tuesday, the Dow reached new record highs, bolstered by stronger-than-expected retail sales data and mostly upbeat corporate quarterly earnings.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 0.4% and the S&P 500 jumped 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 636 points, or 1.6%, to 40,849.75, another all-time high.
according to data released earlier Tuesday, in June, U.S. retail sales were unchanged monthly, after May’s upwardly revised gain of 0.3%.
This release was higher than the drop of 0.3% expected, after May’s 0.1% gain, indicating still strong consumer spending that may limit how many rate cuts the Fed will deliver this year.
Stifel said in a note on Tuesday that even if the Fed started rate cuts as early as the third quarter, this would likely be limited in scope, dashing investors’ hopes of returning to neutral or lower soon.
According to CME Fedwatch tool, traders are now pricing in a 89% probability the central bank would cut rates by 0.25% in September, with a small likelihood of a 0.5% cut.
Wall Street banks are still dominating earnings, and Bank of America surged 5% after the lender reported Q2 profit and revenue exceeded expectations on rising asset management and investment banking fees.
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