Banks recover and lead US equities up at the end of the second quarter



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Updated 8:53, Friday, June 29, 2018


NEW YORK (AP) – US banks are recovering on Friday after the Federal Reserve decision to increase their holdings dividends. Wells Fargo jumped after announcing that it would buy back $ 24.5 billion in shares. Nike is up after posting solid results in the last quarter, including improved sales in North America. Stocks are down this week, but are on track to end the second quarter with weak gains

NOTE: The S & P 500 index jumped 22 points, or 0.8%, at 2739 at 11:40 am Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 253 points, or 1.1%, at 24,472 points. The Nasdaq composite rose 49 points, or 0.7%, to 7,553. The Russell 2000 stock index of smaller companies gained 7 points, or 0.5%, to 1,652. [19659011] Throughout this quarter, concerns over trade disputes between the United States and China as well as Mexico. As a result, stocks did not make big gains after a very good round of corporate reports in the first quarter. The S & P 500 is up 3.7% since the beginning of April after a slight decline in the first quarter and a 1.5% rise in Dow's industrial stocks. However, the Nasdaq has climbed nearly 7% and Russell 8%, and both have recently peaked as investors believe that tech companies and small US companies were safe choices during trade tensions.

BANK ON IT: The Federal Reserve has allowed 32 of the 35 largest US banks to increase their quarterly dividends and redeem more shares. The central bank determined that the institutions were in pretty good financial shape to cope with a major downturn in the economy.


Wells Fargo jumped 5.9% to $ 56.80. The bank has agreed to pay more than $ 1.5 billion in fines, penalties and legal settlements since 2016, after admitting a number of abusive practices, including opening accounts on behalf of consumers without authorization. This has misled consumers on millions of dollars.


Other banks have also increased. Citigroup added 2.5% to $ 68.52 and JPMorgan Chase gained 1.5% to $ 106.48. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, who were not allowed to increase their dividends and buybacks, lagged behind with smaller gains.

JACK DID: Nike is on track for its biggest gain since September 2014 has exceeded Wall Street forecasts. The company said its revenue in North America has increased after several quarters of decline, and the company said it will buy back $ 15 billion in stock over the next four years. It gained 11.7% to $ 80.08

ENERGY: Energy companies and oil prices continued to climb. The benchmark US crude gained 1% to $ 74.15 a barrel in New York. It is up 14% in the second quarter and is trading at its highest price since late 2014. The S & P 500 Energy Companies Index also grew 14% this quarter, far better than the rest of the market.

Brent crude, used for International consumer spending rose 2.1% to $ 79.21 a barrel in London

CONSUMER EXPENDITURES: The Commerce Department said that US consumers had increased their spending by only 0.2% in May. Inflation has reached its fastest pace in six years.

Still, businesses that should benefit from faster economic growth fared better than the rest of the market on Friday. This included retailers and technology companies, industrial companies and manufacturers of chemicals and other basic materials.

TECH TIE-UP: The high-tech company Synnex has agreed to buy the Convergys customer management company for $ 2.8 billion per Convergys share. Synnex lost 8.4% to $ 97.82 and Convegys 2% to $ 24.86

BONDS: Bond prices fell slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bill rose from 2.84% to 2.85%

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose from 110.64 yen to 110.79 yen. The euro went from $ 1.1555 to $ 1.1671

OVERSEAS: The CAC 40 of France gained 1.1%, as did the German DAX. This follows an agreement on migration that relieves pressure on the coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The British FTSE 100 added 0.6%

The Nikkei 225, Japan's benchmark index, rose 0.2%. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.5% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.6%

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Marley Jay, AP Markets writer can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jay

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