The markets sold off in the wake of bank earnings today. The Dow 30 was lower by 119, the S&P 500 sold off 7, and the Nasdaq 100 closed down on the day by 33. As we head into earnings season, many traders expect even more volatility ahead.
JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) reported better-than-expected earnings today. Earnings and revenue were both well above Wall Street's expectations. The trading profit metric that investors were most focused on came in higher by 15% and was mostly from equity trading. "2018 is off to a good start with our businesses performing well across the board, driving strong top-line growth and building on the momentum from last year," said CEO Jaime Diamond.
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) also reported earnings today, which were sort of mixed. Earnings came in at $1.12 on revenue of $21.93 billion. Wholesale banking and loan balances were both lower. Shares remain weaker than most of the other banks, and with today's decline of 3.42%, are not far from a seven-month low.
CitiGroup (NYSE: C) was the other major bank to report earnings today, which came in mostly positive. The company beat on revenue and earnings. Equity trading came in higher by a whopping 38%, beating its peers. Technical traders note the reversal pattern just under the 200 day moving average as a sign of weakness to come.
In other news PNC Bank (NYSE: PNC) also reported earnings that beat expectations, but shares broke a major support area, keeping prices lower on the day by 4.12%.