Tech stocks’ lead declines as banks head into earnings season

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• 

  Friday, April 12, 2024, 11:05am EDT

  Consumer sentiment declined slightly in April

  U.S. consumer sentiment fell slightly in April, but inflation expectations for the year ahead rose, according to the latest survey data on Friday.

  According to a University of Michigan survey, the overall index of consumer sentiment registered a preliminary reading of 77.9 this month, compared to 79.4 in March.

  “Personal financial, economic and labor market expectations have all remained stable over the past four months,” Joan Hsu, director of consumer research, said in a statement.

  However, the data showed inflation expectations rose slightly to 3.1% from 2.9% in the previous month, which Su said reflected some dissatisfaction with the slowing acceleration in price declines. Stated.

  “Overall, consumers are reserving judgment about the economy in light of the upcoming election, which, in the view of many consumers, could have a significant impact on the trajectory of the economy,” he said. .

• 

  Friday, April 12, 2024, 10:45am EDT

  Stock prices rise in morning trading

  Below are some of the stocks that topped Yahoo Finance’s trend ticker page during Friday morning trading.

  JP Morgan Chase (J.P.M.): The banking giant’s shares fell 4% on Friday morning, after rising 6% to $13.4 billion in the first quarter. But investors were spooked by an economic warning from Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, who said the company “remains cautious of a number of material uncertainties as we look to the future.” Dimon pointed to geopolitical tensions and “sustained inflationary pressures” that “will likely continue,” as well as the Federal Reserve’s quantitative tightening campaign.

  City: (C): Shares fell 0.2% after the company announced a slump in first-quarter profits, increasing severance payments to laid-off workers and pumping money into replenishing the government’s deposit insurance fund. Wells Fargo (WFC) also rose 0.1% after the earnings report, while BlackRock (BLK) fell 1%, with mixed results in the financial services sector.

  Morgan Stanley (M.S.): The company’s stock price fell after the Wall Street Journal reported that federal regulators are investigating how the company evaluates wealth management customers who are “at risk of money laundering.” continues to decline. Shares fell 1% on Friday.

  apple (AAPL): After months of largely neglecting its AI storyline, Apple announced a strong push into AI, and investors rejoiced. The company’s stock rose 1% on Friday as the company revealed it would overhaul its Mac computer product line to focus on artificial intelligence, adding $112 billion in value in its best performance in nearly a year. Riding on the momentum of Bloomberg’s report on

• Friday, April 12, 2024, 10:11am EDT

  Oil prices soar to hit 2024 high as Middle East tensions rise

  Oil futures rose as much as 3% on Friday after reports that Israel was preparing for an imminent attack by Iran on government targets as soon as Saturday.

  West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) futures prices rose, hitting a 2024 intraday high of $87.30 per barrel, and the international benchmark price Brent futures (BZ=F) rose to $87.30 per barrel. It hit a trading high of $92.11.

  “Escalating tensions between Israel and Iran are suggesting to traders that the situation could get worse before it gets better.”High option call buying heading into the weekend continues to put upward pressure on futures prices. “This appears to be the case,” Dennis Kistler, senior vice president at BOK Financial, said in a note to clients on Friday.

  Oil prices have been on an upward trend this year due to continued production cuts by oil alliance OPEC+ and tensions stemming from the Israel-Hamas war. A Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian refinery also contributed to the rally in futures prices.

  WTI is up more than 21% year-to-date, while Brent is up about 20% over the same period.

• 

  Friday, April 12, 2024, 9:37am EDT

  Stock prices plummet as banks enter earnings season

  Stocks fell on Friday as tech companies lost momentum and investors braced for the first wave of earnings season as big banks began reporting results.

  The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) fell 0.9%, and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.6%, or more than 200 points.

• Friday, April 12, 2024, 8:23am EDT

  Jamie Dimon makes a point about interest rates to Yahoo Finance

  A fun call between reporters and JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon and CFO Jeremy Burnham.

  The topic of discussion was, of course, profits, but Dimon’s views on interest rates and the economy were also a hot topic.

  Mr. Dimon gave me a good point regarding pricing. (I asked Burnham about how the company is preparing for a “prolonged period of high interest rates.”)

  “I just want to point out that it’s not so important that interest rates are high in and of itself. What matters is why – is it because of stagflation? That’s clearly negative. Or is it because of healthy growth? Is it actually because of stagflation? That’s pretty good.”

  Dimon went on to say that he is not “predicting” a recession.

• 

  Friday, April 12, 2024, 7:43am EDT

  Bank earnings point to early trends: investment banks

  This morning, one sector immediately jumped out from the earnings calls of JPMorgan (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC).

  Investment banking.

  JPMorgan’s investment banking division’s revenue rose 27% year-on-year due to an increase in bond and stock underwriting fees.

  Wells Fargo’s investment banking revenue increased 69% from the same period last year.

  Are there any signs that we will see more M&A and IPOs this year? Let’s start the discussion.

• 

  Friday, April 12, 2024, 6:14am EDT

  It’s hard to make a fuss about BlackRock’s earnings

  You should always be very critical of earnings reports and financial statements. Question everything, both good and bad.

  That being said, I’m having a hard time putting a damper on these results for BlackRock (BLK) this morning. In its simplest form, here is a huge asset management company that increased its assets under management (AUM) by $1.4 trillion year over year to $10.5 trillion. At the same time, the company monitored its expenses more closely, resulting in an improvement in operating margin of 180 basis points year-over-year.

  Considering BlackRock’s size, it doesn’t get any better than this.

  No wonder the stock is up nearly 2% pre-market.

• 

  Friday, April 12, 2024, 6:01am EDT

  Inside the Apple industry

  The Apple (AAPL) ticker returned to the Yahoo Finance Trending Tickers page at the end of this week.

  Shares soared on Thursday following reports that the company is revamping its Mac product line with new AI-enabled chips. While this seems like good news, it may only embolden bulls who want to reinvigorate the tech giant’s stock, which has fallen 9% since the beginning of the year.

  In a new note to clients, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee lays out a number of reasons why the stock is lagging.

  Chatterjee said iPhone sales data “highlights headwinds,” including in China. There are also concerns about the downside risk of Apple’s services business amid “increasing regulatory scrutiny in multiple regions.”

  But these concerns are now largely baked into stock prices, Chatterjee argues.

  He says investors are starting to warm to Apple.

  • The valuation premium for the company’s stock relative to the broader market has eased, and the company’s stock is currently valued at the low end of the multiple the stock has traded at recently since the launch of the iPhone 12.

  • At Apple, “investor appetite is increasing” as the stock market is in the “AI upgrade cycle.”