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Stocks made a valiant rebound attempt on Friday, spurred by a sign that consumers haven't thrown in the towel.
The Commerce Department this morning said retail sales rose 1% month-over-month in June. While most of the increase was a result of higher gas and food prices, Wall Street was still pleased that the figure marked an improvement over May's modest decline and came in above economists' consensus estimate for an increase of 0.9%.
"Spending was broad based and not just boosted by more money spent on gasoline," says Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for independent broker-dealer LPL Financial.
"Given this report, the U.S. might actually post positive growth figures for Q2 and avoid two consecutive quarters of negative growth," Roach adds. "The Fed could try to use this data to support a larger-than-expected hike later this month. Right now, the Fed is focused on the data and if the consumer is stable enough, the Fed could indeed implement a large hike without breaking the economy."
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In other economic news, the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment survey for July rose to 51.1 from June's all-time-low reading of 50.0, while industrial production contracted 0.2% in June, its first month-over-month decline this year.
Financials (+3.4%) led the charge, as positive earnings reactions for Citigroup (C, +13.12%) and Wells Fargo (WFC, +6.2%) sparked a broad rally in bank stocks.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+2.2% at 31,288), S&P 500 Index (+1.9 at 3,863) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.8% at 11,452) were all higher. However, on a weekly basis, all three major benchmarks ended lower.
Other news in the stock market today:
"Are we there yet?" That's the question many may be asking themselves right now following a first half in which inflation, the Fed tightening cycle and the stock market have taken us on a wild ride, say Carl Kaufman, Bradley Kane and Craig Manchuck, managers of the Osterweis Strategic Income Fund (OSTIX).
"Understandably, investors are anxiously awaiting better news – some tangible evidence we have 'arrived' at the bottom of whatever this is," they say. "The stakes are high, as the specter of recession looms over the economy while we try to figure out where we are, but sadly, the answers are not a simple yes or no."
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