US close: Stocks swell as bank earnings remain in focus

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.06% at 34,951.93 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.71% to end the day at 4,554.98.

The tech-centric Nasdaq Composite joined its peers in marking new records, posting a gain of 0.76% to settle at 14,353.64.

In currency markets, the dollar was last down 0.04% on sterling to trade at 76.68p, while it slipped 0.03% against the common currency to 89.03 euro cents.

The greenback also decreased marginally against the yen, last losing 0.01% to change hands at JPY 138.82.

“European and most US stock indices remain in positive territory for the day despite mixed US bank results,” said IG senior market analyst Axel Rudolph earlier.

“Whereas Bank of America and BNY Mellon's second-quarter results beat estimates on better interest income, investment banking and lower expenses, Morgan Stanley's profits dropped by 14% due to the global slowdown in deal making and trading.”

Retail sales growth misses expectations, industrial output declines

On the economic front, growth in US retail sales over last month underperformed expectations, despite several sectors recording notable gains.

Contrary to an expected 0.5% increase, the Department of Commerce reported a modest rise of 0.2% in retail sales volumes, amounting to $689.5bn.

The prior month's growth was retrospectively adjusted up by 0.2 percentage points, to a better-than-initially-reported increase of 0.5%.

When discounting the unpredictable sector of motor vehicles and parts dealers, June’s growth in sales mirrored the overall figure, again at 0.2%, falling short of a projected 0.3%.

The sector also benefited from a two-tenths of a point upward revision to May's numbers.

Certain sectors experienced substantial growth in June, however, with miscellaneous store retailers leading the way with a 2.0% increase, closely followed by furniture stores at 1.4%, and electronics retailers at 1.1%.

Online sales, or non-store retailers, made the most significant contribution to the overall retail sales volume for the month.

Elsewhere, industrial production contracted by 0.5% in June, starkly contrasting with a predicted increase of 0.1%.

In the housing market, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index displayed a slight upward trend, rising from 55 points in June to 56 points in July, matching market predictions.

Banks rise on strong updates, Lockheed Martin dips despite solid earnings

In equities, banks were well and truly in focus, with Bank of America shares swelling 4.42% and Morgan Stanley outpacing that with a 6.45% rise.

The increases were spurred by positive responses to their quarterly earnings updates, with Morgan Stanley going a step further by hiking its quarterly dividend payout.

Regional banking player PNC Financial Services Group also experienced a share price hike, closing 2.51% higher, despite it falling short of its revenue target for the second quarter.

Elsewhere, retail brokerage giant Charles Schwab Corporation rocketed 12.57% on the back of its second-quarter earnings beating market expectations, despite being lower than the same period last year.

On the downside, defence titan Lockheed Martin Corporation dipped 3.04%, even after the firm reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the second quarter and raised its full-year guidance.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

Dow Jones - Risers

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $359.49 3.98%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $500.00 3.29%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $337.27 3.08%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $32.27 2.57%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $263.81 2.47%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $232.57 2.08%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $29.58 1.58%
American Express Co. (AXP) $178.04 1.51%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $171.02 1.44%
3M Co. (MMM) $103.01 1.29%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Visa Inc. (V) $240.77 -1.32%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $60.57 -0.39%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $293.82 -0.29%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $154.57 -0.18%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $227.63 -0.16%
Boeing Co. (BA) $211.57 -0.14%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $193.73 -0.13%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $159.06 -0.01%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $153.66 0.18%

S&P 500 - Risers

Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) $66.01 12.57%
Sl Green Realty Corp. (SLG) $34.02 7.90%
Morgan Stanley (MS) $91.94 6.45%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $474.80 5.50%
Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) $19.51 5.12%
Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) $36.84 4.99%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $37.53 4.95%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $30.70 4.42%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $8.07 4.40%
Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $7.41 4.37%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Fiserv Inc. (FI) $0.00 -100.00%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $1.62 -4.71%
Extra Space Storage (EXR) $150.31 -3.91%
ProLogis (PLD) $124.00 -3.11%
Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) $455.70 -3.04%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $20.87 -2.89%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $360.62 -2.63%
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) $442.68 -2.54%
Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $188.18 -2.32%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $180.33 -2.07%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $5.29 7.09%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $474.80 5.50%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $6.73 4.02%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $359.49 3.98%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $387.19 3.27%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $19.42 3.02%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $18.42 2.91%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $18.68 2.75%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $188.17 2.61%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,208.66 2.50%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Fiserv Inc. (FI) $0.00 -100.00%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $36.06 -4.55%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $144.23 -3.63%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $103.25 -2.80%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $360.62 -2.63%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $36.09 -2.38%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $180.33 -2.07%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $38.46 -1.74%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $77.77 -1.51%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $56.55 -1.29%