Wall Street rises ahead of bank earnings and Powell’s testimony this week

Damian J. Troise
| Associated Press Press Agency

New York – Stocks rose slightly in morning trading on Wall Street on Monday, adding to the record highs set last week.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1%. The Nasdaq was up 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 161 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:40 a.m. ET.

Shares of specialty glass maker Corning rose 9.3%, one of the biggest gains on the market after it raised its sales forecast.

Troubled planemaker Boeing rose 3.1% after agreeing to plead guilty to a criminal fraud case related to two 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people. The government found the company violated an agreement that shielded it from prosecution for more than three years.

Shares of entertainment giant Paramount Global fell 4.1% after it agreed to merge with Skydance.

Traders are eagerly awaiting several earnings reports this week, including an update from Delta Air Lines due on Thursday.

JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are set to report earnings on Friday. The latest news for banks could give Wall Street a clearer picture of how consumers are coping with increased debt and whether banks are worried about payments and potential delays.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell addresses Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday. The central bank is keeping its benchmark interest rate at its highest level in more than two decades to tame inflation.

The Fed aims to bring inflation down to 2% without slowing economic growth too much. Inflation is still squeezing consumers, but it has fallen significantly from its peak two years ago. Economic growth has slowed this year but remains relatively strong amid a solid job market and consumer spending.

The central bank will get more information on consumer inflation on Thursday. Wall Street expects the latest government report to show inflation falling to 3.1% in June from 3.3% in May.

A report on wholesale inflation is expected on Friday, before costs are passed on to consumers.

Surprisingly stubborn inflation has prompted the Fed to wait cautiously before cutting interest rates and has dampened expectations for how many rate cuts it expects this year. Most experts expect the Fed to cut interest rates once this year, but not before September. The Fed will hold its next monetary policy meeting later this month.

Treasury yields were relatively stable in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.29% from 4.28% on Friday evening.

European stock markets were mixed after the French election, which saw parliament split between the left, centre and far right, with no political faction coming close to winning a majority.

Stock markets in Asia fell.

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AP business writers Zimo Zhong and Matt Ott contributed to this report.