In another volatile session U.S. stocks ended mixed Friday as bank earnings rolled in and after an unexpected 1.9% drop in retail sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 200 points or 0.5% led by weakness in shares of JPMorgan which suffered worst percentage drop since June 2020, as tracked by Dow Jones Market Data Group.
While the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose over 0.6% and 0.05%, respectively, recovering steep losses.
Even so, CEO Jamie Dimon believes the economy is rebounding and gave an aggressive take on future rate hikes.
“The table is set pretty well for growth…with obviously the negative being inflation and how that gets navigated and stuff like that. So, my view is a pretty good chance there’ll be more than 4 [rate hikes], it could be 6 or 7” he said during the bank’s earnings call on Friday.
Elsewhere, profits at Wells Fargo jumped 86%, lifting those shares, while Citibank profits dipped 26%.
Energy stocks rose as oil tacked on 6.24% for the week closing at $83.82.
Retailers were in focus as consumers pulled back spending in December with a decline of nearly 2% on the headline number. Excluding the automotive component, spending fell 2.3% compared to a 0.3% pop the previous month.
Casino makers that do business in Macau China rallied after the government outlined revamped regulatory practices yet stopped short of radically limiting the number of licensed operators in the region.
Import and export prices for December. Prices of imported goods fell 0.2% month-over-month, after jumping 0.7% in November. Export prices also fell by 1.8%, well below the prior month’s 1.0% spike.
Other reports include the University of Michigan’s preliminary index of consumer sentiment for January which dipped to a preliminary reading of 68 a sign optimism may be waning.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.3%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 0.2% and China’s Shanghai Composite index lost 0.9%.
China reported its global trade surplus surged nearly 30% in 2021 to $676.4 billion. The trade surplus in December swelled 20.8% over a year earlier to a monthly record of $94.4 billion, customs data showed Friday. The surplus with the United States rose 25.1% in 2021 over a year earlier to $396.6 billion
South Korea’s central bank raised its key interest rate to 1.25% from 1%, acting to counter inflation.
Keep in mind there will be no U.S. trading in stocks or bonds Monday as the markets observe the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
