Stocks rise as earnings season begins


Stocks rose on Friday morning, buoyed by a string of big bank results that failed to raise hopes for a strong quarterly earnings season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.2%, or about 75 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) advanced about 0.3%.

Wall Street lenders have begun announcing fourth-quarter earnings, which are seen as a crucial opportunity for stocks to shake off the losses they have suffered so far this year. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), and Wells Fargo (WFC) all reported good results on Friday. But the latter two saw stocks fall as they failed to calm nerves about potential pain ahead.

Also in focus, oil prices jumped more than 2% after the United States and its allies launched airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, sparking threats of retaliation from the Iran-backed group behind the Red Sea attacks on shipping. Brent crude futures (BZ=F) were trading at around $80 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures (CL=F) were just under $74.

Meanwhile, investors are looking for more insight into price pressures after the CPI reading for consumers came in hotter than expected on Thursday. The producer price index on Friday showed an unexpected drop in prices last month, raising hopes that inflation will continue to decline in the coming months.

He lives3 updates

  • Stocks rose slightly, outpacing banks’ earnings

    Stocks rose on Friday morning as investors largely looked to results from big banks that failed to spark excitement

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.1%, or about 50 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) advanced about 0.3%.

  • It’s 10… followed by 12 zeros

    BlackRock (BLK) announced on Friday that its assets under management exceeded $10,000,000,000,000 at the end of the fourth quarter, with last year’s rally in markets causing client assets to exceed that mark for the first time in two years.

    The company’s assets under management were $10,008,995,000,000 to be precise, as of December 31.

    During 2023, BlackRock saw net inflows of $289 billion, with $96 billion in assets flowing into the company’s products during the fourth quarter representing the second-best quarter of the year. In the first quarter, about $110 billion of net assets were transferred to BlackRock vehicles.

    Alongside its quarterly results on Friday, BlackRock also announced that it has acquired infrastructure fund manager GIP for $12.5 billion. GIP has over $100 billion in assets under management.

  • Jamie Dimon once again warns of “steadier” inflation and higher interest rates

    JPMorgan (JPM) reported fourth-quarter results early Friday that capped a record year for the nation’s largest bank.

    Inside the company’s fourth-quarter release, investors got another expanded view on the U.S. and global economy from its outspoken CEO, Jamie Dimon.

    Largely reiterating his view that investors are too comfortable with the idea that inflation is on a smooth path back to the Fed’s 2% target and that interest rates will remain higher than forecasters expect, Dimon said a combination of “unprecedented” factors in the markets… It means that the bank “must be prepared for any environment.”

    Here are Damon’s comments in full, with added emphasis and spacing:

    The US economy continues to be resilient, as consumers continue to spend, and markets are now anticipating a soft landing. It is important to note that the economy is fueled by large amounts of government deficit spending and previous stimulus.

    There is also a continuing need for increased spending due to the green economy, restructuring of global supply chains, rising military spending, and rising health care costs. This could cause inflation to be more persistent and rates to be higher than markets expect. Furthermore, there are a number of downside risks to monitor.

    Quantitative tightening drains more than $900 billion of liquidity from the system annually We have never seen a full cycle of tightening. The ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have the potential to disrupt energy and food markets, migration, and military-economic relations, in addition to their horrific human cost. These large and somewhat unprecedented forces make us remain wary. While we hope for the best, the past year has shown why we must be prepared for any environment.

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