Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday, led by financials, as investors look ahead to a trio of quarterly earnings reports from three of the four biggest U.S. banks.
Financials lead the rise on Wall Street, as investors piled into banking stocks ahead of quarterly earnings from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo due Friday.
The release of soft economic data, however, limited gains, as inflation and jobs data undershot expectations.
Wholesale inflation, measured by U.S. producer prices index rose 0.1% in June, missing expectations of a 0.2% rise.
In a separate report, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that initial jobless claims fell by 3000 to 247,000 in the week ended July 7, missing forecasts of a 5,000 decline.
The duo of weak economic reports came a day after Fed chair Janet Yellen signalled that future rate hikes will be gradual amid concerns about the slow pace of inflation.
On the corporate news front, Target closed more than 4% higher, after the company said it expects “modest increase” in second-quarter comparable-store sales that should top analysts’ forecasts.
Meanwhile, steel company stocks received a boost after Trump said he would consider quotas and tariffs on steel imports into the United States, decreasing the supply overhang that has pressured steel prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 21,556.17. The S&P 500 closed 0.24% higher while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6274.44, up 0.21%.
‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) up 1.5%, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) up 1.4% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) up 1.3%
E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD) down 1.2%, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) down 1% and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) down 0.6%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.