U.S. stocks were rising as investors weigh bank earnings and retail sales

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com — U.S. stocks were rising after record by JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:) kicked off the first-quarter reporting season and retail sales data was weaker than expected.

At 9:59 ET (13:59 GMT), the rose 18 points or 0.1%, while the was up 0.4% and the was up 0.2%.

JPMorgan, Citigroup (NYSE:) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:) all beat expectations for the quarter, which was marred by turbulence from the collapse of two big banks. 

But fell by a more than expected 1% in March from the month before as shoppers cut back their spending on vehicles and other big-ticket purchases.

Recent economic data, including retail sales, have shown signs that the economy is cooling after the Federal Reserve’s aggressive attack on inflation through successive interest . Futures traders are on another quarter of a percentage point rate hike at the Fed’s next meeting in May.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said Friday that a quarter of a point increase could mean the central bank can end its tightening cycle with some confidence that it has nudged inflation in the direction of its 2% target.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:) shares fell 1.7% after it for quarterly profit and raised its outlook for the year.

Boeing Co (NYSE:) shares fell more than 6% after it stopped deliveries of some 737 MAXs because of a supplier quality problem.

Oil was rising. rose 1.1% to $83.09 a barrel, while rose 0.8% to $86.83 a barrel. fell 0.9% to $2,037.