Stocks Opened Higher on Upbeat Economic Data

U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday, as upbeat data on U.S. retail sales and inflation outweighed initial selling seen after a terror attack in France. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately added 25.14 points, or 0.14%, to 18,531.55. The S&P 500 gained 1.47 points, or 0.07%, to 2,165.22. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.31 points, or 0.01%, to 5,034.37.

U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in June as Americans bought motor vehicles and a variety of other goods, reinforcing views that economic growth picked up in the second quarter. The Commerce Department said retail sales increased 0.6 percent last month after gaining 0.2 percent in May.

Consumer prices rose 0.2% in June — the fourth straight increase — as the cost of gasoline, rent and medical care continued to go up, according to a government index that tracks the cost of living.

Industrial production in June grew at the fastest monthly rate in eleven months, on the back of strong auto and utility output. The Federal Reserve said Friday that industrial production grew 0.6% in June, topping the MarketWatch-compiled economist consensus for 0.5% growth. This is the fastest growth since last July.

Wells Fargo’s (WFC) earnings met analysts’ estimates amid higher revenue and strong loan growth, but reported lower net income from a year earlier. Profit of $1.01 a share compared with an average projection of $1.01 from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Net income fell 3.5% from a year earlier to $5.17 billion. Revenue climbed 4% from a year earlier to of $22.2 billion.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) is still shutting down branches. The bank is adding tellers, tech staff and commercial bankers, JPMorgan CFO Marianne Lake said on the company’s earnings call.

Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) on Thursday reported a higher-than-expected profit for the second quarter and said it would make fewer seats available to the United Kingdom and elsewhere than previously planned this autumn so ticket prices do not drop. Delta said earnings rose 4 percent to $1.55 billion in the second quarter from a year earlier.