Wall Street buoyed by banking shares

U.S. stock indices rose on Friday, drawing support from forecast-beating banking earnings, which buoyed Wall Street in general.
 
Wall Street also drew support from upbeat U.S. data, with retail sales up 0.6% in December from 0.2% in November, indicating strong household demand.
 
Producer prices also rose 0.3%, besting expectations but below 0.4% in November, following remarks from Fed members pointing to stabilized inflation rates in the recent period.
 
The dollar rose today against main currencies, trimming its weekly losses and forcing profit-taking operations on commodities, but its impact was small on Wall Street due to strong data and banking profits.
 
Standard and Poor's 500 rose 0.25%, or 5.65 points to 2,276.09, while Dow Jones added 0.18%, or 35.47 points to 19,926.47.
 
Tech-heavy NASDAQ advanced 0.55%, or 30.46 points to 5,574.74.