3 things investors need to know this week!

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US futures hold steady near records with Fed rate cut baked in:?US stocks inched higher on Tuesday, as investors assessed another batch of big bank earnings amid growing conviction that an interest-rate cut is near.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) traded little changed after the blue-chip index topped 40,000 to?an all-time closing high. Futures on the S&P 500 (ES=F) were up 0.1%, while those on the tech-laden Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) edged up 0.2% on the heels of their daily wins.

Retail sales come in better than expected in June:?Retail sales were flat in June, defying Wall Street's prediction of a decline amid signs of slowing in the US economy. According to Bloomberg data, economists had expected a 0.3% decline in spending. Meanwhile, retail sales in May were revised higher to an increase of 0.3%, from a prior reading of 0.1%.

June sales, excluding auto and gas, increased by 0.8%, above consensus estimates for a 0.2% increase. The control group in Tuesday's release, which excludes several volatile categories and factors into the Gross Domestic Product reading for the quarter, increased 0.9% in June, above estimates for a 0.2% increase.

Bank of America Q2 profits drop as higher interest rates slow down lending:?Bank of America said its profits fell in the second quarter, as higher interest rates ate into BofA's expenses, including its large consumer banking franchise. But like Goldman Sachs, Bank of America saw a resurgence of activity in its investment banking division which helped make up for some of the weakness in other parts of the bank.

?The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank said Tuesday it earned a profit of $6.9 billion, compared with $7.4 billion in the same period a year earlier. On a per-share basis, BofA earned 83 cents, beating analysts' estimates.

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