Stocks rose slightly Friday as traders parsed through the first batch of fourth-quarter earnings while they digested the second in a pair of closely watched inflation reports this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 94 points higher, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 gained 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.2%.
Delta Air Lines fell 5% even after posting better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.
A slew of big banks also reported earnings before the bell on Friday. Bank of America lost more than 2% after posting declining fourth-quarter profit, while Wells Fargo shares shed more than 1% despite posting a higher profit for the quarterly period. Citigroup, meanwhile, gained 1.9% despite posting a $1.8 billion quarterly loss after incurring several large charges. Shares of JPMorgan Chase also rose before the bell, gaining more than 2.5% even after the bank said its earnings slipped by 15% from a year earlier.
The moves follow a muted day on Wall Street. The 30-stock Dow inched up by around 15 points, while the S&P 500 finished marginally lower. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed at its flat line.
Investors got some encouraging news on inflation Friday with wholesale prices unexpectedly declining by 0.1% in December. The data follows the more widely followed consumer prices data Thursday, which came in modestly hotter than economists had forecasted, with prices up 0.3% on the month and 3.4% from a year ago.
On the week, the major averages are heading for modest gains. The Dow is up about 0.7%, while the S&P 500 is tracking for a 1.8% advance. The Nasdaq is the outperformer, up more than 3% through Thursday’s close.
