The biggest banks in the U.S. are expected to report this week that they drove far higher profits in the fourth quarter than they did a year ago, thanks to solid consumer spending, higher stock prices and trading activity,

U.S. stocks ripped higher Wednesday following a shot of adrenaline from an encouraging update on U.S. inflation. Strong profit reports from Wells Fargo and other big U.S. banks also helped launch indexes to their best day in two months.