After ending things in an ugly manner yesterday and finishing down nearly 1%, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) closed in a flourish on July 14, gaining 42 points, or 1.34%, on the day. The S&P is still down about 1% for the year, but on a total returns basis that includes dividends paid, the index is back to breakeven -- for now at least.
Today's biggest news came out of the banking sector, with CitiGroup (NYSE: C), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) all reporting their second quarter results and announcing a combined $28 billion in loan loss provisions that sent investors selling. On the other side of the ledger, the biggest-gaining sector today was the oil and gas industry, with oil stocks including Noble Energy (NASDAQ: NBL), Apache Corp (NASDAQ: APA), Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ: FANG), and Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) all up between 5.7% and 10.4% on the day.
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