The markets were lower today as the first reports of bank earnings held the major indices back. The Dow 30 lost 31, the S&P 500 was lower by 4, and the Nasdaq 100 fell 12 on the day. Tomorrow investors will get a look at retail sales numbers and consumer sentiment which both can be market movers.
JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) shares were lower today as the big banks begin to report their earnings for last quarter. The bank reported profit and revenue that were better than the streets expectations. Earnings came in at $1.76 per share on revenue of $26.2 billion. The street foretasted $1.65 a share on sales of $25.23 billion. While all that sounds like good news, traders focused on the banks trading revenue which was lower by 21%, with a 27% decline in fixed-income trading,. The decline was blamed on "sustained low volatility and tighter credit spreads." Shares are still higher on the year by 12%.
Citi (NYSE: C) also reported earnings today which came in at $1.42 a share on $18.17 billion in revenue. This was better than analysts predictions but revenue from fixed-income trading was also lower for Citi as well. Trading income fell 16% during the quarter to $2.88 billion. Citi CEO Michael Corbat said, "We had revenue increases in many of the products we have been investing in, tightly managed our expenses, and again saw loan growth in both our consumer and institutional businesses." Investors still took the opportunity to close their positions, pushing the stock lower by 3.43% on the day. Technical traders will note that shares also closed on the lows of the session, further signifying weakness.
Disney (NYSE: DIS) sold off 1.64% today on news of a deal with Hollywood. The digital film service "Movies Anywhere" will now have access to Disney films. Shares have been selling off recently and with today's decline puts shares in the red by almost 7% on the year.