US stocks climb on inflation data, bank results
- S&P 500 climbed 0.3% while Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.5%
Wall Street stocks mostly rose after better-than-expected US inflation data and strong earnings from major banks, despite a flat Dow and IBM's share decline.
- Improved US inflation data and the Federal Reserve's commitment.
- Strong second-quarter earnings from major US banks.
- Mixed stock market performance and IBM's significant share drop.
NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks mostly rose early Tuesday following improved US inflation data and strong earnings from large banks.
The US consumer price index rose by 3.5 percent on a year-on-year basis in June, down from 4.2 percent in May, a sharper slowdown than expected.
The data came as Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh pledged to rid the United States of a years-long “inflation surge,” according to prepared remarks of congressional testimony scheduled for later Tuesday morning.
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 52,503.33.
The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.3 percent to 7,534.54, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.5 percent to 26,011.25.
Large US banks were higher in volatile trading after a series of strong second-quarter results. JPMorgan Chase reported profits of $21.2 billion, up 41 percent from the year-ago level.
Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs also scored higher profits.
But IBM shares sank more than 24 percent after warning that second-quarter results would lag expectations due to shifting customer actions that led to weaker sales.