The stock markets in the United States rebounded after experiencing declines over the past three trading days. Today’s momentum was driven by equities in the banking sector with Citigroup’s better-than-expected financial results.
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In an interview with Bloomberg, Michael Antonelli, an institutional equity sales trader and managing director at Robert Baird & Co. commented, “The best way to describe the bank earnings is they didn’t rock the boat. Expectations around the timing of the Fed action is really the prime driver of sentiment and the market right now. The Fed is the 800-pound gorilla.”
Investors’ sentiment is shifting from being worried about China’s slowing economy that could spill over globally to feeling encouraged that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates until policymakers feel confident that the U.S. economy will not be impacted by economic developments abroad.
Today, the Department of Labor reported that the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits declined by 7,000 to 255,000 for the week ended October 10.
[drizzle]A separate report from the agency showed that the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) declined 0.2% last month on a seasonally adjusted basis. The energy index dropped 4.7% while the food index climbed 0.4% in September.
The Federal Reserve is monitoring signs that the inflation is heading towards its 2% target—one of the factors being considered by policymakers, to increase interest rates.
Russell Price, a senior economist at Ameriprise Financial, commented that the housing market probably remains the “biggest support for inflation.” He said, “Inflation is generally well-contained, however if you strip out the impact of energy prices, we are seeing a bit firmer pricing picture.”
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17, 141.75 (+1.28%)
- S&P 500- 2,023.86 (+1.49%)
- NASDAQ- 4,870.10 (+1.82%)
- Russell 2000- 1,159.81 (+2.01%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,238.81 (+1.48%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,338.67 (+1.10%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 10,064.80 (+1.50%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 18,096.90(+1.15%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 22,888.17 (+2.00%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,486.82 (+2.37%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Citigroup climbed more than 4% to $52.97 per share. The bank posted quarterly earnings of $1.35 per share, higher than the $1.21 per share expected by Wall Street analysts. Its revenue was $18.69 billion, slightly above the $18.5 billion consensus estimate.
Netflix tanked more than 8% to 410.09 per share. The company posted quarterly earnings of $0.07 per share on $1.7 billion in revenue. Analysts expected the company to achieve earning of $0.08 per share on $1.75 billion in revenue.
Five Prime Therapeutics surged more than 65% to $27.93 per share. The company signed an exclusive worldwide license and collaboration agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb to develop and commercialize its colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) antibody program including FPA008.
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