Stocks climb after banks report Q4 earnings
STORY: U.S. stocks finished higher on Friday, notching a second straight week of gains, amid easing inflation expectations and better-than-feared earnings from some of the big U.S. banks.
The Dow rose a third of a percent, the S&P 500 ended four tenths of a percent higher, while the Nasdaq gained seven tenths of a percent.
Wall Street's biggest banks kicked off the fourth-quarter earnings season with some notes of caution about a possible recession, but they said consumers remained healthy and higher interest rates boosted profits.
Anna Rathbun is chief investment officer at CBIZ Investment Advisory Services.
"There's been bank earnings that beat expectations. I think the ones that have not have been a little idiosyncratic. But, in general, the expectations have been beaten and as far as market pricing is concerned, that's what's important."
Shares of JPMorgan Chase rose 2.5% while Bank of America's stock gained 2.2% after both lenders reported quarterly profit that beat estimates.
Shares of Citigroup and Wells Fargo also rose despite earnings that fell short of quarterly profit estimates.
Tesla shares declined, limiting gains in the S&P 500, after the company slashed prices on its electric vehicles in the United States and Europe by as much as 20% after missing 2022 deliveries estimates.
And shares of Delta Air Lines fell 3.5% after the carrier forecast first-quarter profit below expectations.
