TheStreet Live

Wall Street rose, setting the Dow up for its third record close in a row, as investors largely shook off a weak start to the earnings season. Financials were the only sector in decline after disappointing earnings from JPMorgan , Citigroup and Wells Fargo . Boeing moved higher after being upgraded to OVERWEIGHT from NEUTRAL at JPMorgan. The firm is bullish on the entire aircraft industry and also positive over Boeing's earnings and cash flow. Walmart carried the Dow higher after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating to BUY and added the stock to its Conviction List. Analysts are positive the retailer can deal with increased e-commerce demand. Consumer sentiment unexpectedly weakened in July, according to a preliminary reading from the University of Michigan. A drop in consumer expectations was responsible for the decline.

A new GOP health care bill was unveiled but there are still some republicans who say they will vote against it. Kentucky's Rand Paul and Maine's Susan Collins both say they are not swayed and continue to oppose it. Republicans hope to have a final vote on the new health care law next week. U.S. President Donald Trump is in Paris and was treated this morning to a festive Bastille Day Celebration in Paris. He and French President Macron seem to be getting along better than some had thought. After Paris, Trump will travel to Nice, France. The Washington Post has a new policy on the behavior of its employees on social media. The Jeff Bezos owned paper says no employee can say anything that would hurt vendors, partners or advertisers. Union workers aren't happy with the new policy. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: We Just Tried Chipotle's New Queso... And You Might Never Get Your Hands On It 10 Private Islands Starting at $5 Million You Could Call Home Today Apple's $1,200 iPhone 8 Could Be Vastly Overhyped Why Is Lonzo Ball Wearing Nike? Hyundai's Popular Sonata Gets a Facelift, Improving Its Chops in Soft U.S. Sedan Market 10 Great Jobs That Will Make You Happy

The Dow Jones Industrial Average notched a fresh record close for its second day in a row and the rest of the markets clinched slight gains as a rally in retail boosted Wall Street. Target pulled other retailers higher after upbeat second-quarter guidance. Walmart led the Dow to records as the world's largest retailer joined in on a sector rally. The company climbed more than 1%, its best daily performance since June 1. NRG Energy added to the previous day's gains as investors continued to applaud plans to sell assets, lower its debt, and reduce costs. Shares have rocketed nearly 40% higher since the beginning of the week. Financials were on the rise ahead of the kickoff to the earnings season. Big banks Citigroup , JPMorgan and Wells Fargo ring in the second-quarter earnings period with their performance reports out Friday morning.

Stocks teetered between small losses and gains through the morning session as a selloff in healthcare offset gains in retail. Healthcare was under pressure ahead of an expected revised repeal-and-replace bill from the Senate GOP. Upbeat guidance from Target Corp. inspired a rally in the retail sector. Target anticipates a "modest increase" in same-store sales over the quarter, far better than analyst consensus of a decline. The company saw improvement in traffic and category sales trends. Delta declined after falling short of profit estimates in its second quarter. By region, domestic and Latin America revenue rose, while Atlantic and Pacific sales declined. Snap Inc. increased after Stifel upgraded its rating to BUY. The firm is optimistic over the company's user engagement and overall growth and says recent selloffs could be an overreaction to a lock-up expiration.

French President Emmanuel Macron will treat U.S. President Donald Trump to fine dining and a Bastille Day Celebration while they meet in France. Trump arrived in the country this morning. The two world leaders will talk policy where they have sharp disagreements about trade and the environment. Uber announced it will team with Russian ride sharing company Yandex in Russia and Central Asia. Uber is retreating from the market as its cedes control of the ride sharing operations with the Russian company. Uber did something similar in China where it sold its Chinese operation to Didi Chixing, a local company. Kid Rock may be running for U.S. Senate. The Michigan rocker confirmed in a tweet that the website 'Kid Rock for Senate' was real and more information will come. Republicans in Michigan have reportedly been considering Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, to consider running on the GOP ticket in 2018 to challenge Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow.

Stocks rallied as Fed Chair Janet Yellen soothed fears over low-inflation risks and reiterated plans to unwind its balance sheet as soon as this year. Yellen said that rate increases would be gradual and not many would be needed to reach neutral. Crude oil rose after a sharp drop in weekly domestic inventories data from the Energy Information Administration. U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 7.6 million barrels in the past week, their second weekly decline a row. Nvidia rose after SunTrust Robinson upgraded its rating to BUY from HOLD. Analysts anticipate upside to revenue and profit over the next year. The firm increased its fiscal 2018 earnings guidance. American Airlines gained after upping its second-quarter outlook on increased passenger yields. Total revenue per available seat mile is expected to climb by 5% to 6% over the quarter.

Stocks came back from session lows to end mostly higher. Indexes endured a brief selloff around the middle of the day on breaking news of Donald Trump Jr.'s meetings with a Russian attorney during the presidential election. The EIA reduced its price forecasts for West Texas Intermediate over the next two years. The U.S. agency expects crude to end the year at $48.95 a barrel, 3.6% lower than its previous forecast in June. Snap Inc. closed below its initial public offering price of $17 for the second day in a row. The app company ended a penny below that March IPO price on Monday. Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. was the worst performer on the S&P 500 after MKM Partners initiated coverage with a SELL rating and $26 price target. The firm said there's risk Kors will shift focus to lower-margin products.

Stocks made a sudden turn lower on increasing evidence of ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. Donald Trump Jr. released emails confirming his knowledge that a meeting with a Russian attorney was part of their government's support of Trump. The number of job openings in May declined as hiring activity picked up. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for May showed openings at 5.66 million, while hiring increased by its largest amount since March 2004. PepsiCo bested profit and sales estimates over its second quarter. Organic revenue increased just over 3%, driven by growth in its Frito-Lay North America and North America beverages segments. Rent-A-Center rallied after reporting that it had received, and rejected, an unsolicited buyout offer. Its board of directors said the bid "significantly undervalues" the company.

Stocks broke higher as the tech space found its momentum again after a shaky start to the day. Tech drove the Nasdaq to notch gains of 1% on Friday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. slumped after confirming that it had ended buyout talks. The company said its board had determined that its business plan was the best way to unlock shareholder value. Abercrombie said in May that it was holding preliminary talks. Snap Inc. was under pressure after Credit Suisse lowered its price target, but reiterated an OUTPERFORM rating. The firm anticipates a decrease in average revenue per user ahead of the company's second-quarter earnings report. Costco Wholesale Corp. dropped after being downgraded to MARKET PERFORM at BMO Capital. Analysts warned that fear over increased competition from Amazon could "overshadow strong fundamentals."

Wall Street enjoyed big gains to close out a holiday-shortened week. Indexes rose on a better-than-expected June jobs report and a rally in high-momentum tech stocks. Crude oil prices closed lower after a weekly read on drilling activity in the U.S. showed another rise. The increase reverses a small dip seen a week earlier, its first drop in 24 weeks. That decrease was only the second this year. Sears Holdings Corp. declined after announcing even more store closures. The retailer said it would close eight Sears and 35 Kmart locations that were unprofitable. The closures are part of Sears' cost-cutting strategy. Tesla Inc. made a small rebound after briefly entering bear market territory a day earlier. The automaker has slumped in recent days, falling nearly 15% since the beginning of the week.