U.S. Stocks and Crypto Surge Amid Strong Bank Earnings and Cooling Inflation

Wall Street's on fire today, baby! U.S. stocks are climbing higher as investors chow down on some juicy earnings from the big banks and soak up the latest producer price index data like it's their favorite smoothie.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 140 points, while the S&P 500 is strutting its stuff with a 0.16% gain. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite is playing it cool, hanging out at the flatline with a tiny 0.04% bump.

These sweet little gains in the blue-chip and benchmark indices are all thanks to investors diving headfirst into earnings reports from the banking big shots - Bank of America, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs. Bank of America's second-quarter report is blowing minds with $26.5 billion in revenue and adjusted earnings per share of $0.89, smashing the expected $0.85 out of the park.

Stocks, Crypto Up Amid Latest U.S. Inflation Data

Yesterday, stocks took a hit as inflation worries and tariff drama had everyone biting their nails. But today, Wall Street's feeling the love again as investors navigate the latest tariff-related rollercoaster.

The uptick's getting a boost from the producer price index data that dropped on Wednesday, and it's better than anyone expected.

U.S. June PPI rose just 2.3% year over year - the lowest since September 2024 and below the forecasted 2.5% increase. Month over month? Flat as a pancake, missing the expected 0.20% gain.

When inflation cools off, risk assets start popping like champagne corks, as investors see it as a sign that interest rates might take a dip.

Bitcoin (BTC) is feeling the love too, bouncing back after dipping to $116,000 during some profit-taking from its wild run to $123,000. With "crypto week" in full swing, BTC's edging higher again, testing the waters near $119,000.

Gold's holding steady amidst the tariff-related rollercoaster, while the bond market's keeping it chill.

"U.S. producer price inflation for June was softer than the consensus forecasts, with no monthly change for the headline and core measures. Annual inflation eased up to 2.3% and 2.6% respectively. But hold up - the immediate reaction of yields on US Treasury bonds is staying low-key, as markets are also eyeballing the unusually large upward revision in the prior (May) estimates," says top economist Mohamed El-Erian, dropping some serious knowledge bombs.