US stocks up for the week, but down for the session
The S&P 500 ended down slightly on Friday but posted a solid weekly gain, with bank and financial shares mostly lower on the day following quarterly reports that kicked off earnings season. Shares of JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo were little changed. Both reported higher quarterly profits, but said they have set aside more money for expected losses from commercial real estate loans.  UnitedHealth Group shares jumped, while the healthcare sector was the biggest positive in the S&P 500.  UnitedHealth's quarterly profit beat analysts' expectations, thanks to lower-than-feared expenses. "We've rallied significantly year to date, and that was in anticipation of better-than-expected earnings," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president and advisor for Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut. "What we're seeing now and are likely to continue to see through the end of the summer is a little bit of fatigue and lack of conviction that stocks can go materially higher." The day's quarterly reports unofficially started off the second-quarter US earnings season. Analysts expect S&P 500 earnings to have declined 8.1 percent in the quarter from a year ago, according to Refintiiv data. The S&P 500 lost 0.1 percent to end at 4,505, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.2 percent to 14,113. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 percent to 34,509. Indexes posted gains for the week, and the S&P 500 remains up roughly 17 percent year to date. (Reuters)