Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Wrapping up
Stock futures slipped Friday ahead of the final trading session of the week. But the major indexes are all still headed for weekly gains, despite what’s felt like near-daily doldrums since 2024 kicked off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.65% so far this week, the S&P 500 is up 1.77% and the Nasdaq Composite is up more than 3%. Follow live market updates.
2. Calling on reserves
It’s a big morning of bank earnings, with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all issuing quarterly reports. U.S. banks have been navigating a period of high interest rates combined with rising loan losses. They’re also staring down aggressive forthcoming capital requirements. JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, and Bank of America both reported profit fell last quarter due to regulatory fees associated with the regional banking crisis.
3. Onward and upward
Don’t get too comfortable: CPI was back on the rise last month. The consumer price index — a measure of what consumers pay for a set basket of goods, and a key inflation gauge — was up 3.4% year over year in December, reversing course after two months of declines. The index was up 3.1% in November and 3.2% in October. On Friday, however, a related inflation readout, the producer price index, unexpectedly fell in a positive sign for the economy.
4. Tech crunch
Google is cutting several hundred jobs across its hardware, central engineering and voice-activated Google Assistant teams. It’s among the latest headcount reduction to hit the tech sector after Amazon earlier this week announced layoffs in its Prime Video, MGM Studios, Twitch and Audible units. Messaging platform Discord said late Thursday it it would also be cutting headcount. All three companies highlighted the need to be more efficient, and Google and Amazon said they would be reducing investments in some areas in order to better align with product “initiatives” and “priorities.”
5. Bon voyage
Delta Air Lines more than doubled its fourth-quarter profit as travel demand, especially for international trips, remains strong. The carrier on Friday reported December-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations, but it trimmed its 2024 earnings forecast from prior estimates. CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC’s Leslie Josephs, “business is great” but noted the industry still faces some supply chain challenges: “It’s taking longer to fix planes and taking longer to put them back into service.”
