Equity Brief US stocks arent banking on earnings so far

Stock market snapshot as of [16/7/2019 1:39 PM]

• The latest set of Big U.S. bank earnings are in sharp focus. As ‘ugly contests’ go, investors are having a hard time choosing which bank’s quarterly results they dislike least
• This means earnings among high profile stocks are providing a small negative input into Tuesday’s Wall Street trade with the Dow a smidgeon higher and Nasdaq and S&P 500 down by vanishingly thin fractions too
• European shares fare somewhat better, partly because the earnings slate in Europe has yielded some clearer outright successes on the day than Stateside

Corporate News

• Burberry shone in Europe, rising 12%-14% as investors breathed a sigh of relief that new categories produced by a recently installed ‘star’ designer demonstrated strong traction. The Consumer Discretionary index rose 0.4%
• Attention on the top-level earnings releases across the Atlantic in itself left European activity fairly subdued
• Among the giant U.S. lenders, Goldman appears to have chalked up most successes compared to Citigroup, which reported on Monday and JPMorgan and Wells Fargo which also released results on Tuesday
• JPMorgan trades slightly lower, whilst Goldman Sachs paces the bunch with a 2.2% rise. Wells Fargo adds 0.5% after its weak results at least showed it continued to grow its consumer businesses
• All four banks have beat on the top line and most on the bottom line too. Earnings are messy though, and the underlying picture is less salubrious than the headline figures. As well, most of these banks are downgrading expectations into the rest of the year based on the expectation of lower Fed rates that will weigh on interest income. All told, banks are providing a somewhat negative beginning to the U.S. earnings season

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