Investors Hail Bank Profits, Indexes Shoot Higher

Stocks jumped on Friday as traders digested a fresh batch of bank earnings and retail sales for June that came in ahead of expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 449.75 points, or 1.5%, to 31,079.92.

The S&P 500 regained 46.5 points, or 1.2%, to 3,836.88.

The NASDAQ Composite climbed 100.96 points to 11,352,15.

For the week, the Dow is down 1%, while the S&P has slipped 1.6% and the NASDAQ is down 2.3%.

A new round of bank results from Wells Fargo and Citigroup offered further insight into the state of the economy. Wells Fargo rose 2.8% even as quarterly profits declined 48% and the bank set aside funds for bad loans.

Citigroup jumped 5.2% as it beat estimates and benefited from a rising rate environment.

A day earlier, investors combed through troubling reports from JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, which kicked off major bank earnings, and also weighed the likelihood of larger interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and looming recession concerns.

In corporate news, Pinterest shares surged 14.7% following a Wall Street Journal report that said activist investor Elliott Management took a stake of more than 9% in the social media company.

June retail sales came in ahead of expectations on Friday, rising 1% on a monthly basis and ahead of Dow Jones’ estimate of 0.9% and indicating that consumers are bolstering retail spending even as inflation hits record highs. Preliminary consumer sentiment data also came in ahead of expectations.

Treasury prices gained, lowering yields to 2.93% from Thursday’s 2.96%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices picked up $1.37 to $97.15 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices fell $5.80 to $1,700.00 U.S. an ounce.

Investors Hail Bank Profits, Indexes Shoot Higher