The largest North American and European banks posted double-digit gains as higher-for-longer inflation looms. All the biggest North American and European banks expect full-year 2026 profits to meet or exceed projections, as AI spending and a surge in market and investment banking activity fueled second-quarter profits. With drama surrounding AI disruption in the tech sector…
US stocks finished mostly lower on Friday, taking some of the shine off a week that saw both the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 trade at record levels. The exception today was the small-cap Russell 2000, which bucked the broader weakness and closed at a new record high. The S&P 500 reached a fresh all-time…
Prior was 106.69 (revised to 106.74) Notably, this index flagged some weakness last month and that proved to be prescient (or lucky) as the weakness showed up in Friday’s non-farm payrolls report. “The ETI rebounded in July after declining in May and June, suggesting continued resilience in the labor market, despite the ‘low-hire, low-fire’ backdrop,”…