Stocks on Wall Street were higher at midday as the S&P 500 rose above 2,800 for the first time since the middle of March. The Dow has also been strong, though not much of that outperformance is due to JPMorgan (JPM) after the bank and several of its large peers kicked off earnings season with their reports this morning. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the June trade price report was mixed, with a weaker than expected 0.4% import price decline and a stronger than expected 0.3% increase in export prices. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey was weaker than expected, falling 1.1 points to a 6-month low of 97.1 in the preliminary print for July. In Asia, China's exports were strong in June, rising 11.3%, while imports fell a bit short of expectations with an increase of 14.1%. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of JPMorgan advanced fractionally after it started off this summer's earnings season by reporting better than expected earnings for the second quarter. Of note, the bank's CEO Jamie Dimon said he sees "good global economic growth, particularly in the U.S." Meanwhile, Wells Fargo (WFC) slipped 2% after reporting downbeat results for Q2, with the company noting in presentation slides that the third party review of customer accounts is "ongoing." Citi (C) shares also fell about 2% after its quarterly report, though the bank's headline earnings for the quarter beat analysts' estimates. In addition, PNC Financial (PNC) reported better than expected results for the quarter and guided for third quarter net interest income to be up low-single digits... Meanwhile, AT&T (T) was in focus after the U.S. Department of Justice said it plans to appeal the approval of the merger between AT&T and Time Warner. In an interview on CNBC this morning, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that he doesn't know exactly what the government basis will be for an appeal and that the move by the DOJ "changes nothing"... Additionally, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) dipped about 1% after a Missouri jury awarded $4.69B to 22 women who alleged that use of J&J's talcum powder products caused their ovarian cancer. The jury award includes $550M in compensatory damages and $4.14B in punitive damages against the company. J&J responded by saying it "intends to pursue all available appellate remedies." MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Biocept (BIOC), which surged 58% after it announced a provider agreement with Alliance Global FZ. Also higher was Achillion (ACHN), which gained 13% after it said it began dosing in its Phase 1 trial of ACH-5548. Among the notable losers was Gogo (GOGO), which fell 11%, reversing last night's afterhours gains following the company's announcement of a strategic review. Also lower was Ingredion (INGR), which dropped 11% after it announced a $125M cost savings program, provided lower than expected Q2 guidance, and cut its outlook for fiscal 2018. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 93.18, or 0.37%, to 25,018.07, the Nasdaq was up 13.35, or 0.17%, to 7,837.26, and the S&P 500 was up 4.74, or 0.17%, to 2,803.03.
