US close: Stocks higher following PPI, Q2 bank earnings
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Wednesday 16 Jul 2025
(Sharecast News) - Major indices closed higher on Wednesday as traders digested more bank earnings and another key inflation report.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.53% at 44,254.78, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.32% to 6,263.70 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.25% firmer at 20,730.49.
The Dow closed 231.49 points higher on Wednesday, taking a bite out of losses recorded in the previous session as market participants thumbed over mixed Q2 bank earnings and June's consumer price index.
Wednesday's primary focus was June's producer price index, which revealed annual PPI fell 2.3% year-on-year in June to the lowest level seen since September 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, compared to an upwardly revised 2.7% increase in May and below forecasts of a 2.5% increase.
On a monthly basis, however, producer prices were flat against May's upwardly revised 0.3% increase, ahead of the 0.2% increase expected by economists. Services prices were down 0.1%, while goods prices rose 0.3% month-on-month. So-called core PPI was unchanged in June, compared to forecasts of a 0.2% rise, while the annual core rate fell to 2.6% from 3.2%, below expectations of a 2.7% increase.
June's PPI reading follows Tuesday's consumer price index, which revealed that inflation seemingly moved further away from the central bank's 2% target in June as the impact of Donald Trump's so-called "reciprocal" tariffs began to be felt throughout the US economy.
Also drawing an amount of investor attention, a White House official told CNBC that Donald Trump was moving closer to firing Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chairman. A senior White House official also told Republican lawmakers that Trump "likely will soon" remove Powell as chairman of the central bank. Separately, the New York Times revealed that Trump had drafted a letter giving Powell the boot and showed it to lawmakers. However, Trump later denied the reports, saying it was "highly unlikely" that he will fire Powell in the near future. "No, we're not planning on doing it," Trump said. Although he added that he would not "rule out anything".
Elsewhere on the macro front, US mortgage applications fell by 10% in the week ended 11 July, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, more than reversing the prior week's 9.4% to register the sharpest decline in almost three months as benchmark mortgage rates increased by five basis points. Applications to refinance a mortgage sank by 12% week-on-week, while applications to purchase a home 7%.
On another note, US capacity utilisation edged up to 77.6% in June, up from a revised 77.5% reading in May and beating market expectations of 77.4%,according to the Federal Reserve, while industrial production increased 0.7% year-on-year in June, the same as an upwardly revised 0.7% increase in May.
In the corporate space, Bank of America beat quarterly profit estimates on the back of a bigger loan book and robust trading, while Goldman Sachs also posted a big earnings beat thanks to solid equities trading, and Morgan Stanley posted a 15% increase in quarterly profits as its wealth and trading divisions carried it to its best Q2 on record.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $299.02 2.23%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $412.88 2.04%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $82.42 1.12%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $708.82 0.90%
Visa Inc. (V) $349.80 0.83%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $119.74 0.71%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $153.71 0.69%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $252.30 0.63%
3M Co. (MMM) $157.49 0.62%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $22.69 -1.00%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $149.92 -0.51%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $357.19 -0.35%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $281.58 -0.28%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $285.82 -0.25%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $95.15 -0.25%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $298.68 -0.24%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.27 -0.13%
Boeing Co. (BA) $229.90 -0.04%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $505.62 -0.04%
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Global Payments Inc. (GPN) $82.71 6.51%
Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (BHF) $50.27 6.23%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $164.78 6.19%
Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) $73.99 4.62%
Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) $25.19 4.18%
Blackrock Inc. (BLK) $1,082.29 3.45%
J. M. Smucker Co. (SJM) $107.50 3.11%
Jacobs Solutions Inc. (J) $137.86 3.00%
State Street Corp. (STT) $105.00 2.96%
Robert Half Inc. (RHI) $41.17 2.90%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $96.10 -4.74%
Ansys Inc. (ANSS) $374.30 -4.69%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $143.19 -3.77%
Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $170.58 -3.76%
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FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $32.96 -3.54%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $92.70 -3.44%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $17.64 -3.29%
HF Sinclair Corporation (DINO) $42.87 -3.14%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $116.43 -3.06%
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Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $2.73 4.39%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $321.67 3.50%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $58.41 3.16%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $485.08 2.39%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $299.02 2.23%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $11.01 1.94%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $151.55 1.81%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $74.43 1.81%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $27.58 1.70%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $69.24 1.45%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $754.45 -8.33%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $86.32 -7.48%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $116.43 -3.06%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $23.19 -2.77%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $194.81 -2.25%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $69.32 -1.87%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $951.37 -1.69%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $66.53 -1.48%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $223.19 -1.40%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $190.24 -1.33%
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