Shares of banks and other financial institutions rose as traders digested a surprisingly strong round of earnings.
"There's a newfound spirit of optimism in markets today," said J.D. Joyce, president of Houston financial advisory Joyce Wealth Management. Several of the major companies who have reported earnings so far indicated that visibility has improved on the outlook for growth, said Joyce.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in recent days privately laid out his case to President Trump for why he believed Trump shouldn't try to oust Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, The Wall Street Journal reported. Still, Bessent was sharply critical of the Fed in public comments Monday.
Blank-check company Dynamix is merging with another entity to create a new company known as the Ether Machine. The combined company plans to manage over $1.5 billion in ether, the largest cryptocurrency behind bitcoin.
Block shares rose after reports that the company formerly known as Square would be added to the S&P 500 index before the start of trading Wednesday.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-21-25 1830ET
