The Dow industrials bucked the trend of an otherwise downbeat session on Monday as upbeat economic data and a fresh round of quarterly results failed to stoke buying appetite.
Investors also watched President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin convene for a summit in Helsinki, Finland but reaction to a joint conference with the two leaders was muted.
What are markets doing?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.18% rose 44.95 points to 25,064.36, a rise of 0.2%, thanks partly to gains in shares of components JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, +3.97% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, +2.22% The blue-chip benchmark has risen seven of the past eight sessions and 10 of the past 12.
The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.10% meanwhile, fell 2.88 points to 2,798.43, a loss of 0.1%. Financials led the gains, rising 1.8%, but that advance was counterbalanced by losses in energy shares, which slid 1.2%, and materials and health-care sectors, which declined 0.8% and 0.7% respectively.
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.26% declined by 20.26 points, or 0.3%, to 7,805.72.
What is driving the market?
Corporate quarterly results were the main focus for investors after earnings season unofficially got under way Friday, with a trio of major banks.
Meanwhile, President Trump and Russian President Putin’s meeting is said to have centered on arms control, intelligence reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election—which Russia pushed back on—and the annexation of Ukraine. Oil prices, speculated to be a topic heading in, were reportedly not addressed, nor was global trade friction.
At a joint news conference, Trump said he believed the “incredibly powerful” denial of election interference by Putin as he raised doubts about the findings from U.S. intelligence.
Putin, meanwhile, declared the Cold War a “thing of the past” as he called for starting dialogue on nuclear arms balance.
However, some observers were highly critical of the news conference, and attacked Trump for embracing Putin in the fashion that he did, while appearing to chastise U.S. intelligence agencies for their reports that point to Russian meddling in the 2016 election won by Trump.
What data are in focus?
U.S. retail sales rose 0.5% in June, as had been expected. Separately, the Empire State Index fell 2.4 points to 22.6 in July.
Business inventories in the U.S. rose 0.4% in May, the Commerce Department said. Sales jumped 1.4% in the month.
What are strategists saying?
“While we’ve only had a handful of systemically important banks report so far, the numbers look pretty good and reflect strong domestic activity. The retail sales numbers also appear decent and reflective of a consumer who is in good shape, which, again, should support economic growth,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.
“Market should continue to focus on these positive fundamentals unless there’s any further eruption in trade news, which will usurp the fundamental news. Until then, the focus will be on company results, and whether their profitability is enough to continue supporting equity advances.”
“There was virtually no reaction from the market to the Trump-Putin summit, mainly because they did not talk about oil or trade issues, instead focusing on election meddling—something investors have been discounting for a while,” said Mark Kepner, managing director of sales and trading at Themis Trading.
Which stocks are in focus?
Bank of America Corp. shares BAC, +4.31% gained 4.3% after the lender’s second-quarter per-share earnings and revenue came in above expectations. The results followed a mixed set of major bank earnings from Friday. Among other major banks. JPMorgan shares rose 4%, while those for Citigroup Inc. C, +3.67% gained 3.7% and Wells Fargo & Co. WFC, +2.94% closed 2.9% higher.
Deutsche Bank AG DB, +8.01% said second-quarter profit and revenue would come in considerably above analysts’ forecasts. U.S.-listed shares of the bank gained 8%.
BlackRock Inc. BLK, -0.62% posted second-quarter profit and revenue that rose above expectations, boosted by increased fees and a lower tax rate. The asset-managing giant has reportedly set up a working group to investigate ways it can take advantage of the cryptocurrency market. Shares of BlackRock fell 0.6%.
Shares in Goldman rose 2.2%. The New York Times reported late Sunday that the banking major is planning to name President David Solomon to succeed Lloyd Blankfein as chief executive officer as early as this week.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, +1.91% rose 1.9% after Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target on the stock.
Boeing Co. BA, +1.51% Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said the aerospace giant will decide next year whether to pursue a new multibillion-dollar commercial airliner project—its first in about 15 years. Shares of the Dow component rose 1.5%.
What are other markets doing?
Asian markets closed mostly lower after a mixed bag of Chinese data. Gross domestic product in the world’s second-largest economy grew 6.7% in the second quarter, down slightly from 6.8% in the first three months of the year.
In Europe SXXP, -0.10% stocks closed lower.
The dollar slipped against most major currencies, sending the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.14% down 0.3% to 94.487.
U.S. crude-oil prices CLQ8, +0.15% tumbled 4.6% to end at $71.84 a barrel, while gold GCQ8, +0.34% declined to settle 0.1% lower at $1,239.70 an ounce.
