US open: Stocks grind higher after CPI data knocks dollar lower

In the headlines on Friday, following his bank's latest quarterly update JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon reportedly chided journalists for worrying about the lender's results in fixed income over the past two weeks.

Instead they should be focusing on something that actually matters, such as the long absence of policies to boost the American economy's potential rate of growth.

Against that backdrop, as of 1606 BST the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead by 0.10% or 21.17 points at 21,548.80, while the S&P 500 was gaining 0.34% or 8.35 points to 2,451.60 and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead by 0.25% or 15.98 points to 6,290.44

Strength in miners as the greenback fell back after weaker-than-expected US consumer price data was more than offsetting weakness in banks.

More specifically, the best-performing corners of the markets were Forestry & Paper (2.72%), Apparel Retailers (1.89%), Gold Mining (1.79%), Non-Ferrous Metals (1.71%) and Mining (1.66%).

Heading the other way, Banks were at the pile, down by 1.31% despite stronger-than-expected numbers out of Citi, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo.

Economic data on Friday was weaker than expected across-the-board, with a drop in headline CPI from 1.7% in May to 1.6% in June a particular talking point.

Soft consumer prices held the potential to derail expectations for a third central bank interest rate hike in 2017, which in turn weighed on the dollar and boosted commodity prices.

The other main economic indicators published, on retail sales, industrial production all came in short of forecasts as well.

To take note of, based on the preliminary readings for its July survey, the University of Michigan said data was following the same pattern seen in the past after cycle-peaks.

The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index fell from a reading of 95.1 for June to 93.1 in July, according to preliminary results.

That was less than the print of 95.0 economists were looking for.

According to the survey's director, Richard Curtin, the data also revealed that consumers had lost hopes of faster economic growth on the back of fresh stimulus.

Wall Street heavyweight JP Morgan posted better than expected top and bottom-line growth for its latest three-month stretch, despite widely-anticipated weakness in its Markets unit, and increases to its capital return plans.

During the first quarter its total net revenues were 5% ahead to $26.41bn, driving a 13% increase in net income to $7.03bn for earnings per share of $1.82.

Citigroup's improving second-quarter revenue and earnings both beat Wall Street forecasts, helped by its best investment banking performance in seven years.

Revenues for the second quarter of $17.9bn were up 2% on the same period last year, beating consensus estimates of $17.4bn.

Growth was driven by institutional and global consumer banking, but slowed by falls in corporate banking.

Wells Fargo posted quarterly EPS of $1.07 (consensus: $1.02) but at $22.2bn its top line figure was slightly underwhelming.

Dow Jones - Risers

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $76.17 1.49%
Visa Inc. (V) $97.24 1.36%
Boeing Co. (BA) $207.95 0.83%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.47 0.57%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $84.24 0.53%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $132.46 0.45%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $63.17 0.45%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.32 0.44%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $72.08 0.43%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $104.49 0.35%

Dow Jones - Fallers

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $91.40 -1.83%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $228.10 -1.00%
American Express Co. (AXP) $84.90 -0.55%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $152.46 -0.54%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $125.22 -0.17%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $147.53 -0.16%
3M Co. (MMM) $210.89 -0.09%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $57.93 -0.02%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $123.05 -0.02%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.28 0.10%

S&P 500 - Risers

Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $14.73 4.84%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $43.25 4.52%
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $56.31 3.02%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $42.68 2.77%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $23.38 2.63%
FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) $30.44 2.63%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $28.16 2.29%
United Rentals Inc. (URI) $117.28 2.21%
Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) $24.93 2.17%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $6.03 2.12%

S&P 500 - Fallers

F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $121.70 -5.14%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $129.65 -3.95%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $23.99 -2.56%
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) $54.29 -2.35%
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG) $36.01 -2.27%
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) $25.73 -2.13%
Comerica Inc. (CMA) $73.61 -1.98%
Morgan Stanley (MS) $44.64 -1.93%
AutoNation Inc. (AN) $42.08 -1.91%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $91.40 -1.83%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $262.80 2.10%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $39.04 1.88%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $37.10 1.66%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $43.84 1.55%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $31.61 1.54%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $51.03 1.35%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $27.93 1.31%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $31.91 1.30%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $32.93 1.29%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $93.97 1.26%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $129.65 -3.95%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $182.55 -1.13%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $30.07 -0.96%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class C (LILAK) $25.55 -0.58%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $41.21 -0.54%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $39.13 -0.46%
Liberty Interactive Corporation - Series A Liberty Ventures (LVNTA) $53.57 -0.33%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $54.12 -0.22%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $998.74 -0.19%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $67.72 -0.18%