U.S. Stocks Edge Higher on Strong Earnings and Cooling Inflation, Despite Oil Price Pressure

U.S. stocks posted modest gains with the S&P 500 rising 0.4%, the Dow adding 150 points, and the Nasdaq climbing 0.6%, driven by strong quarterly earnings from BlackRock (+6.6%), Bank of New York Mellon (+5.1%), and Cintas (+4.4%). Wholesale inflation slowed to 5.5% from 6% in May, well below economists' expectations, pushing the probability of a Fed rate hike at the next meeting down to just 10% from 42%.

Why it matters: Oil prices remained elevated due to the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, with Brent crude settling at $84.95 per barrel, while South Korea's Kospi surged 6.2% and ASML reported better-than-expected revenue growth amid AI-driven demand.