US stocks trade mixed but notch a weekly gain as earnings impress and inflation cools

• US stocks were mixed on Friday but closed higher for the week as investors cheered a cooler June inflation report.
• Second-quarter earnings kicked off on Friday with JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and BlackRock all beating analyst estimates.
• Investors are expecting the latest earnings season to represent a trough for corporate profits.

US stocks were mixed on Friday but traded solidly higher for the week as investors got their first taste of second-quarter earnings results and cheered an upbeat June inflation report.

The S&P 500 rose 2.5% for the week while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 jumped more than 3%. The cooler June CPI report recalibrated futures expectations, with investors now pricing in just one more interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve this year.