The markets finished last week by breaking a streak of down days. Friday the markets broke the 5 day losing streak and most will attribute it to the 12% in oil. While the markets still finished the week in the red, Friday's gains went a long way to convincing buyers to dip their toes again. The Dow posted a 313 point gain (2.00%), the Nasdaq 100 saw a 70 point gain (1.66%) and the S&P 500 followed along nicely gaining 35 (1.95%).Oil was no doubt a huge factor Friday as it surged 12% , but banking stocks out performed as well helping to boost the S&P.JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) made headlines as the CEO Jaime Diamond bought 500,000 shares of the company's stock worth over $25 million. Shares of JPM popped 8.33% as investors supported the sometimescontroversialCEO. Although the purchasedoesn'tchange some of the fundamental concerns hovering over JPM recently, it is a step in the right direction for luring back investors.
Theexcitementover JPM sent the banking sector surging Friday. Popular banking ETF (NYSE: XLF) saw a much needed4.22% pop on Friday which helped stave off some of the weeks declines. Shares of other global banking giants were also comfortably higher Friday but stillfinishedthe week in the red. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) gained a respectable 7% on Friday but still closed the week down 7% which highlights the strength of the recent sell off.
Lastly we turn to oil, which on Friday had its best percentage gain since 2009. Popping 12% on news that OPEC was willing to consider cooperating on production cuts. This represents a complete change in tone by OPEC which sparked the rally. Shares of every oil company and every oil ETF were higherFridaybut still have a long way to go to erase the decline of late.
Moving forward this week investors will have to digest a slew of market numbers along with FOMC minutes from the FED on Wednesday. Can the markets continue to find support in the short term? This week will likely be one of the most important weeks this year so far.