Stocks Finish Higher; Dow Jones and S&P 500 Snap Six-Day Losing Streak
Stocks ended sharply higher in trading today, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 posting their first gains in seven trading sessions. Stocks were pushed higher by strong earnings reports from JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), and China’s second-quarter GDP data.
The Dow Jones ended the day 1.62% higher at 12,777.09, the S&P 500 ended the day 1.65% higher at 1,356.78, and the Nasdaq ended the day 1.48% higher at 2,908.47.
All sectors in the S&P 500 rose sharply in trading today. The gains were led by Financials, which ended the day 1.90% higher. Basic Materials sector ended the day 1.53% higher, while Energy sector ended the day 1.49% higher. Industrials rose 1.84%. Transportation sector finished 1.73% higher.
Investors’ sentiment was lifted by China’s second-quarter GDP data. Although the Chinese economy’s pace of growth slowed down to 7.6% in the second quarter, it was in-line with estimates.
Meanwhile, solid earnings reports from JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo also lifted sentiments. JPM posted a profit of $5 billion for the second quarter, despite a $4.4 billion loss related to the “London Whale” trades. JPM shares ended the day 5.96% higher at $36.07.
Wells Fargo reported higher earnings for the second quarter, driven by robust mortgage banking income. WFC shares ended the day 3.23% higher at $33.91.
On the economic front, a report from the Labor Department showed that producer prices rose 0.1% in the month of June even as energy prices fell sharply. Meanwhile, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s July preliminary consumer sentiment index dropped to 72.
European markets ended mostly higher today, with the EURO STOXX 50 Index ending 1.39% higher. Asian markets also rose overnight, with the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closing 0.35% higher.
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Post Written By: Ed Liston
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.
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