Corporate earnings results such as tech giants Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL). JPMorgan Chase (JPM) kicked off the first set of earnings reports by posting an unexpected increase in profit over last year, driven by a near-30% jump in markets revenue after a stock rally earlier this year and jump in volume drove more equity and bond trading activity.
Its provisions for credit costs totaled a smaller than expected $611 million, versus the more than $2 billion in reserve Wall Street had expected the bank would set aside in anticipation of soured loans during the pandemic.
On the whole corporate earnings results, consensus economists expect companies within the S&P 500 financials sector will see earnings per share decline, in aggregate, by 19.4% over last year. Still, this estimate – along with the broader estimate for S&P 500 earnings to decline by 20.5% in the third-quarter – has been upgraded since the start of the summer, as analysts mulled a less dire outlook for economic activity since the spring.
Shares of Apple ticked higher overnight following a more than 6% surge during Monday’s regular session, as Wall Street looked ahead to the company’s new iPhone launch event later on Tuesday. The iPhone 12 is expected to represent Apple’s first with 5G for faster connectivity, and feature OLED screens and LIDAR sensors for augmented reality capabilities on some models.
Amazon corporate earnings results, meanwhile, also added to gains in early trading, after shares of the e-commerce giant closed 4.8% higher. Amazon Prime Day kicks off on Tuesday, with at least one firm anticipating that the event will bring in nearly $10 billion during the two-day sales bonanza alone.
According to a Labor Department report Tuesday consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.2% in September over August, following a 0.4% monthly gain during the prior period. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the CPI was also up 0.2% month on month. This core measure of consumer price changes increased 1.7% over last year, suggesting still-muted inflationary pressures in the US economy.
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