Stocks traded higher last week as news about a potential coronavirus treatment increased hope for an economic recovery following the outbreak.

Gilead Sciences said their coronavirus treatment candidate, remdesivir, “was associated with an improvement in clinical recovery and a 62 percent reduction in the risk of mortality compared with standard of care.” The news sent Gilead shares up more than 2%.

Earnings season is set to kick off this week with big banks and others reporting their quarterly results. JPMorgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Pepsi will report.  Corporate profits are expected to fall by 44% in the second quarter, which would be the biggest drop in quarterly earnings since the fourth quarter of 2008. However, the market could shrug off the sharp profit decline as long as companies signal a recovery on the horizon.

The wholesale cost of U.S. goods and services fell in June, reflecting depressed demand in retail and other major parts of the economy caused by the pandemic.   The producer price index declined 0.2% last month.  Wholesale inflation has fallen 0.8% in the past year, unchanged from May. By contrast, wholesale inflation was rising at a 1.6% pace just a year ago.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, I’m Tyler Simones.