Get ready for the second quarter earnings season, which formally kicks off today as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs release results.  Other major financial institutions will also report this week, including Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo on Wednesday and Morgan Stanley on Thursday. The banking industry is likely to unveil some blowout results, with S&P 500 financial sector earnings doubling year over year, though much of that growth will be measured against a time when much of the economy was brought to a pandemic standstill.

The breakneck pace of US consumer price increases seen since the start of the year accelerated in June, challenging the Federal Reserve’s case that the burst of inflationary pressures accompanying the economic reopening will prove temporary. The consumer price index rose 5.4 per cent in June from a year ago — above the nearly 13-year high of 5 per cent reported in May and surpassing the 4.9 per cent increase forecast by economists. Stripping out volatile items like food and energy, “core” CPI rose from 3.8 per cent in May relative to the year before to 4.5 per cent in June.

PepsiCo raised its earnings forecast for the full year, as people returning to restaurants and cinemas boosted sales of the company’s sodas. The pandemic dragged on demand for 7Up, Mountain Dew and other beverages as coronavirus restrictions kept crowds away from bars, stadiums and other venues. PepsiCo said on Tuesday net revenue in the June quarter jumped 20.5 per cent year on year to $19.2bn