Bank earnings and Trump's French trip dominate investor attention

BY THE NUMBERS

U.S. stock futures were mixed after the Dow on Thursday logged its 24th all-time record close of 2017. The S&P 500 finished about 5 points away from a record. The Nasdaq, which hit a recent rough patch along with tech stocks, was about 1 percent away. (CNBC)

The direction of Friday's market action could be determined by key bank earnings, as investors continue to monitor President Donald Trump's trip to France. The Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq were on track to post a second straight weekly gain. (CNBC)

JPMorgan (JPM), Citigroup (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC) all issue earnings ahead of Friday's opening bell on Wall Street. Dow stock JPMorgan's quarterly profit and revenue were higher than expectations. (CNBC)

Following Fed Chair Janet Yellen's caution about persistently low inflation in congressional testimony this week, the government's 8:30 a.m. ET release of June consumer prices takes on added importance. June retail sales are also out at 8:30 a.m. ET. (CNBC)

* June industrial production is released at 9:15 a.m. ET (Fed)
* Mid-July consumer sentiment index is out at 10 a.m. ET (University of Michigan)

IN THE NEWS TODAY

The Russian lawyer who met with the Trump team after an alleged promise of compromising material on Hillary Clinton was accompanied by a Russian-American lobbyist, a former Soviet counter intelligence officer who's suspected by some U.S. officials of having ongoing ties to Russian intelligence, NBC News has learned.

President Trump was a guest of honor at Bastille Day celebrations in Paris on Friday, the second day of his first trip to the France. Last year on Bastille Day, a terror attack in Nice killed 86 people and wounded hundreds. (USA Today)

* Trump jokes he backed off Putin to avoid a 'fistfight' (NY Times)
* Trump: 'Something could happen' on climate accord (Reuters)
* Trump: Health-care reform 'more difficult' than Middle East peace (CNBC)

A federal judge has granted Hawaii's bid to exempt grandparents and other relatives from President Trump's temporary travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries. (Reuters)

Divisions remain with the GOP even after Senate leaders unveiled a revision of their Obamacare replacement bill, which would allow insurers to sell new low-cost, stripped down policies. (NY Times)

Trump's budget would reduce the federal deficit, but it would not balance the budget over a decade as the White House promised, said the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. (CNBC)

Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) is recalling 1.33 million vehicles worldwide for fire risks and inadvertent airbag deployments. Meanwhile, Honda (HMC) is recalling 1.2 million Accords because a battery sensor can short out. (Reuters & AP)

Honda is unveiling its next-generation Accord in Detroit today, as rival Toyota (TM) gets set to introduce later this month its all-new Camry, a major competitor to the Accord.

FanDuel and DraftKings have decided to scrap their merger rather than fight the U.S. government, which had sought to block the combination of the nation's two top daily fantasy sports sites. (Recode)

Recode sources shot down many candidates floated in the media for Uber's new CEO role, including Marissa Mayer, Arianna Huffington, Tom Staggs, Alan Mulally, and Susan Wojcicki. (Recode)

Roku, a maker of streaming-media devices and software, is preparing an IPO that it expects to launch before year-end. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Allen & Co. were recently hired as underwriters. (WSJ)

STOCKS TO WATCH

Arconic (ARNC) faces a shareholder lawsuit in the U.S. over the deadly fire at London's Grenfell Tower last month. The suit accuses the engineered metals supplier of failing to disclose the use of flammable panels.

Anthem (ANTM) filed a lawsuit against drugmaker Insys (INSY). The health insurer accuses Insys of paying kickbacks to doctors and made false statements to Anthem to receive reimbursements.

Tennessee joins three other states in imposing restrictions on dicamba, a flagship pesticide for Monsanto (MON). Farmers spray the weed killer on crops genetically modified to resist it. But drifting can hurt other crops.

AT&T (T) Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson will become executive chairman after the merger with Time Warner (TWX), according to Bloomberg. There will be two CEOs, one for telecom and other for media.

WATERCOOLER

Beyonce posted the first picture of her newborn twins, Sir Carter and Rumi, on Instagram. The photo, showing her holding the two infants, was up to 4.4 million "likes" just five hours after the post. (Reuters)