Stocks end higher on Wall Street, still down for the week
Associated PressWall Street capped a week of losses with a broad rally for stocks Friday, as investors welcomed solid earnings from big companies and an encouraging report on consumer sentiment and inflation expectations. The report was welcome following several government reports this week that showed consumer prices remained extremely hot in June, along with wholesale prices for businesses. Investors have been closely watching economic reports for clues as to how the central bank might react and the latest upbeat consumer sentiment report raises the chance of the Fed softening its current policy. Overseas, stocks in Hong Kong and Shanghai fell following a report that showed the Chinese economy shrank by 2.6% compared with the January-March period’s already weak quarter-on-quarter rate of 1.4%.