US equities try to resist the continuing flare-up in US bond yields. Wall Street reports a positive performance, after the fall of 540 points of the session on the eve of the Dow Jones and the crash of the Nasdaq, equal to -2.6%. At about 3.45pm Italian time, the Dow Jones rose by 0.37% to 35.497 points; the S&P 500 posted a rise of 0.60% to 4,604 points; the Nasdaq jumped 0.70% to around 14,610 points.
Ten-year US Treasuries hit the 1.90% threshold for the first time in more than two years, exactly since December 2019. 30-year rates have risen to beyond the 2.20% threshold.
The two-year US bond yields remain above the 1% threshold, re-grabbed yesterday for the first time in two years, since the period before the Covid-19 pandemic. At this point, the expectation of a maxi rise in US rates in March, equal to 50 basis points, spreads among economists to calm inflation expectations.
Anna Wong, chief economist at Bloomberg Economics, believes that, under the BE rule (Bloomberg Economics rule), at this point the Federal Reserve could raise fed funds rates by 50 basis points in March, and then proceed with another five monetary squeezes, each of 25 basis points, until the end of 2022.
Meanwhile, the US quarterly season continues.
Bank of America announced it ended the fourth quarter of 2021 with profits up 28% to $ 7.01 billion. Earnings per share stood at 82 cents, much better than the 76 cents per share expected by the analysts interviewed by Refinitiv. Revenue was roughly in line with forecasts of $ 22.17 billion, up from an estimated $ 22.2 billion. On an annual basis, the turnover increased by 10%.
The growth in profits is explained, among other things, by the release of reserves that had been set aside to meet possible non-performing loans (NPLs), worth $ 851 million.
Again, Bank of America benefited from the positive trend of the asset management and investment banking divisions. The stock is up by 2.5%.
The balance sheet of the other American banking giant is also good,
Morgan Stanley, which ended the fourth quarter of 2021 with net income of $ 3.7 billion, or $ 2.1 per share on a diluted basis, compared to $ 3.4 billion, or $ 1.81 per share, for the same period of the year. last year. The eps beat expectations for an earnings per share of $ 1.91. Revenue stood at $ 14.5 billion on a net basis, up from $ 13.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, slightly below the $ 14.6 billion expected by the consensus. Morgan Stanley stock rises by more than 3%.
The company also published its financial results
US multinational consumer goods company Procter & Gamble, which announced that it had reported better-than-expected profits in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The giant also announced that it has raised its estimates for its fiscal year 2022, thanks to the boom in demand for its hygiene products, triggered by the leap of Covid-19 infections, caused by the spread of the Omicron variant in the world. Another assist also came from the rise in the prices of its articles, in a context of accelerating inflation.
To be precise, in the fourth quarter of 2021, its second fiscal quarter, P&G reported net income of $ 4.22 billion, or $ 1.66 per share, up from $ 3.85 billion, or $ 1.47 per share. share, Q4 2020. Eps, at $ 1.66, was higher than the consensus expected $ 1.65. Net sales increased 6% to $ 20.95 billion, surpassing the projected $ 20.34 billion. The stock jumped by more than 3%.