stocks rose wednesday bringing an eighth consecutive day of gains for the dow as bank results and easing inflation overseas helped sustain the recent rally the dow jones industrial average added 10928 points or 03 to finish at 3506121 for its longest streak of gains since 2019 the broad sp 500 index climbed 02 led by realestate and utility shares the techcentric nasdaq added less than 01 a pack of regional banks including us bancorp mt bank and citizens financial group reported that deposits stabilized in the second quarter after march’s string of bank failures that helped ease investors’ concerns that continuing outflows could ripple through the economy and make it harder for businesses and families to get loans us bancorp rose 65 mt added 25 and citizens gained 64 “i’m certainly breathing a sigh of relief that these regionalbank earnings were much more comforting than many people were expecting” said tim horan chief investment officer for fixed income at chilton trust “it paints a picture that goes to the broader health of the economy to better gdp and a better housing market” meanwhile goldman sachs shares gained 1 even after the wall street heavyweight posted a steep drop in quarterly profit as it worked to exit its disappointing foray into main street banking some investors saw encouragement in its growing investmentbanking backlog a calmer financialsector backdrop and declining inflation in the us and abroad have combined to lift major indexes to solid gains so far in the third quarter extending a firsthalf rally that defied many investors’ gloomy outlook at the start of the year most traders are counting on another quarterpercentagepoint interestrate hike from the federal reserve next week but fewer are betting on more increases after that that is a boon to stocks following last year’s shift toward higher interest rates and bond yields as corporate results continue to roll in wall street analysts expect sp 500 earnings to shrink by more than 6 in the latest quarter compared with a year ago according to factset for the full year a resilient economy has fueled forecasts that the index’s pershare earnings will be up slightly from 2022 meanwhile price increases continue to cool off around much of the world inflation in the uk slowed to 79 in june from 87 a month earlier with headline us inflation now down to 3—in striking distance of the fed’s 2 target—many investors have raised their bets that the fed’s campaign of rate increases will end without a serious recession “we’re still basking in the afterglow of the past few months’ inflation data” said brent schutte chief investment officer at northwestern mutual but schutte noted that workers’ wages are still charging higher “i don’t think the fed will stop until they get what they want which is lower wage growth” he said us treasury yields which closely follow interestrate and inflation expectations were steady as investors awaited the fed’s policy meeting next week fresh data wednesday showed that new housing starts fell in june from may’s strong tally analysts at renaissance macro said the decline was more emblematic of the sector’s stabilization than of renewed weakness the 10year treasury yield ended at 3741 down from with 3788 on tuesday the 2year yield settled at 4753 unchanged from a day earlier coming into the summer many traders worried that volatility would strike shortterm yields as the treasury department flooded the market with new debt after the standoff in congress over raising the country’s borrowing limit but investors have absorbed more than 600 billion of treasury bills with barely a hiccup said laurie brignac head of global liquidity for invesco “that was a big unknown and making people very uncomfortable” brignac said “things have gone thankfully much more smoothly brent crude the global oilmarket benchmark slipped 02 to 7946 a barrel oil has still rallied 61 so far in july as production cuts in saudi arabia and russia begin to take hold