Positive US futures, despite the disappointment that came with the publication of the financial statements of JP Morgan, whose stock in the premarket fell by more than 1%. At about 2 pm Italian time, futures on the Dow Jones rose by 0.30%, those on the S&P 500 advanced by 0.36%, those on the Nasdaq increased by 0.50%.
The number one bank in the United States by asset value reported that, in the first quarter of 2022, eps dropped significantly as the consensus had predicted, at an even stronger pace, falling to $ 2.63 compared to $ 4.50 in the first quarter of 2021, below the $ 2.72 per share estimated by economists.
Revenue also fell to $ 30.717 billion, roughly in line with consensus estimates of $ 30.59 billion, up from $ 32.27 billion in the first quarter of last year.
“We remain optimistic about the economy, at least in the short term. Household and corporate balance sheets as well as consumer spending remain in good health. But we see several challenges from the economic and geopolitical front, due to high inflation, problems with supply chains and the war in Ukraine “, commented CEO Jamie Dimon.
The bank also announced that the board has approved a $ 30 billion share buyback transaction.
The markets are looking at the other quarterly reports released by Corporate America: such as that of the airline Delta Air Lines, whose stock soars by more than 6% looking at the quarterly loss lower than expected by the group. Delta also announced that, for the first time and in March, monthly revenue was confirmed above pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels for the first time.
Better than expected quarterly also for BlackRock (whose title, however, reports a slightly choppy trend).
The group led by Larry Fink closed the first quarter of 2022 with a net profit of 1.44 billion dollars, or 9.35 dollars per share, against 1.2 billion profits, or 7.77 dollars, for a year. does. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) stood at $ 9.52 versus $ 8.04 in the first quarter of 2021. In the period under review, revenues rose to $ 4.7 billion. The market was expecting an EPS of 8.7 dollars and a turnover of 4.67 billion. In the pre-market on Wall Street, the stock only rose 0.24% to around $ 718.
The super hawk James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve of St. Louis, has also returned.
Still dissatisfied with the Fed’s hawkish conversion, Bullard went further: “There is a bit of fantasy – he said – when it comes to neutral rates” inflation), the banker said. “Neutral rates are not enough to exert downward pressure on inflation – he explained – All they do is stop the upward pressure.”
Which means, according to the exponent of the Federal Reserve, that raising the rates on fed funds “to the neutral level will not be enough” to curb the surge in prices in the United States. However, 10-year US Treasury rates are down to 2.72%, from 2.82%, a record since December 2018, to which they had soared in recent sessions.
Yesterday the market looked at the market mover of US inflation as measured by the consumer price index, which rose 8.5% yoy in March, at the strongest pace since January 1982. The data confirmed the acceleration. of inflationary pressures, compared to + 7.9% in February and a rate higher than + 8.4% on an annual basis expected by the consensus of economists. The core component of the consumer price index rose 6.5% on an annual basis, compared to 6.4% in February, but at a slower pace than the + 6.6% estimated by analysts.
On a monthly basis, inflation advanced by 1.2%, as expected, up from the previous + 0.8%. Core inflation, on the other hand, rose by 0.3% on a monthly basis, at a slower pace than the estimated + 0.5% and also decelerating compared to the previous + 0.5%. The rise is also the lowest since September, a factor that initially led investors to hope that US inflation, sooner or later, will slow down, and therefore that Jerome Powell’s Fed will not be forced to hike rates. excessive, which could derail the recovery of the US economy.
Among other things, the data showed that US inflation-adjusted wages fell by 0.8% on a monthly basis in March, retreating by 2.7% on an annual basis.
But after the initial buys that led the Nasdaq to jump around 2%, Wall Street closed the session yesterday in the red: the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 87.72 points (-0.26%) to 34,220.36. The S&P 500 fell 0.34% to 4,397.45 while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3% to 13,371.57.
On the other hand, several economists have stressed that, in order to speak of a peak in inflation, certain preconditions are necessary, such as the fact that there is no further escalation of the war between Russia and Ukraine.