July 13, Market Update

Stocks eked out a slim victory on Friday following a range-bound day of trading on lighter-than-usual volume. The S&P 500 (+0.1%) hit some technical resistance at the 2800 level, which it hasn't been able to conquer since early February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.4%) did modestly better, and the Nasdaq Composite finished flat.

Big banks, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM 106.36, -0.49), Citigroup (C 67.00, -1.51), and Wells Fargo (WFC 55.36, -0.67), unofficially kicked off the Q2 earnings season Friday morning. The results were mixed; JPMorgan and Citi beat profit estimates, but Well Fargo came up short. The three lenders slid between 0.5% and 2.2% in the aftermath, and the influential financial sector declined 0.5%.
President Trump was in the UK on Friday, fielding questions from reports in a joint press conference with Prime Minister Theresa May and stopping for tea with Queen Elizabeth II. Mr. Trump reaffirmed the United States' "special relationship" with the UK and said the U.S. will pursue a free trade deal with the UK once it leaves the EU.
U.S. Treasuries rallied on Friday, pushing yields lower across the curve; the yield on the benchmark 10-yr Treasury note slipped two basis points to 2.83%. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index finished slightly lower (-0.1%) at 94.47, and the CBOE Volatility Index declined 2.9% to 12.22.
Looking ahead, investors will receive on Monday the Retail Sales report for June, the Empire State Manufacturing Index for July, and the Business Inventories report for May. Bank of America (BAC) and BlackRock (BLK) will report earnings before the open, and Netflix (NFLX) will report after the close.

Source: Briefing.com
Graph: Google Finance