Walmart WMT.N, the country's largest brick-and-mortar retailer, raised its annual sales and profit forecasts. "It is crystal clear that inflation is not standing in the way of consumers... this could serve as the vote of confidence signaling that the economy is still chugging along nicely," said Mike Loewengart , managing director, investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial. The positive retail data helped investors look past comments from Federal Reserve member James Bullard, who called for a more hawkish stance by the central bank in response to rising inflation.