By Ed Ballard and Matt Wirz
U.S. Treasury yields rose after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the start of the formal selection process for a new Federal Reserve head.
Inflation data met economists' projections and earnings from major banks beat expectations. But soft forecasts for the rest of the year weighed on financial stocks, with the exception of Citigroup, which was on track for its highest close since its near collapse in 2008.
Indexes were mixed, with the Dow industrials falling and Nasdaq higher.
June's consumer-price index showed annual inflation rising to 2.7%. That's in line with forecasts and unlikely to sway the Federal Reserve's course on rates, despite President Trump's oft-voiced criticism of the central bank.
Meantime, JPMorgan reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, as did Wells Fargo. Earnings from BlackRock showed it has become the world's first $12 trillion money manager, although its shares tumbled 5% after the firm disclosed a large fund outflow.
The Nasdaq Composite hit a fresh high, boosted by a rally in chip stocks. That came after semiconductor maker Nvidia said it had received assurance from the White House it can sell H20 chips in China again.
President Trump has landed a trade pact with Indonesia, he wrote on his Truth Social platform without providing details of the deal. The announcement follows a letter Trump sent on July 7 threatening a 32% tariff on Indonesian goods.
In recent trading:
The S&P 500 was barely changed after hitting an intraday record high earlier in the session.
Nvidia stock rose around 5%. Other chip stocks also rose, as did Hong Kong tech shares.
Bitcoin prices dropped, after hitting an all-time high Monday above $123,000. The House of Representatives is due to consider three bills on cryptocurrency policy this week.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 15, 2025 12:10 ET (16:10 GMT)
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