The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 211 points as markets attempted to recover from Thursday's sell-off. Markets found gains this morning on news that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month at the G-20 summit. Investors expect that both leaders will seek a resolution to ongoing trade issues.
Here are the numbers from Thursday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index
Previous Close
Point Change
Percentage Change
Dow Jones
25,052.83
-545.91
-2.13%
S&P 500
2,728.37
-57.31
-2.06%
Nasdaq
7,329.06
-92.99
-1.25%
Now, here's a closer look at today's Money Morning insight, the most important market events, and stocks to watch.
The Top Stock Market Stories for Friday
President Trump took another shot at U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the stock market's 1,300-point slide over the last two days. Trump blamed the U.S. central bank's decision to raise interest rates for the market's recent downturn. Trump referred to the Fed as "crazy," "loco," and said it has "gone wild" with monetary policy. "I think the Fed is out of control," Trump told reporters yesterday. However, the president said that he wouldn't replace Powell over the central bank's commitment to normalizing interest rates. (Note: The president cannot fire the chair of the Federal Reserve.)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) leads a busy day of earnings reports in the banking sector. Jamie Dimon's firm reported a 24% jump in profits to roughly $8.4 billion. Wall Street had expected earnings per share of $2.25 on top of $27.53 billion in revenue. Traders were looking for a 20% bump year over year in quarterly income due to lower taxes, rising interest rates, and an uptick in lending.
Tech stocks were trying to rebound this morning after a brutal sell-off during the week. Shares of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) gained 1%; Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) found a 3% jump; Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) added 2%, and, Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) popped 4%.
Money Morning Insight of the Day
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The Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) earnings report fell just short of expectations before the bell. Analysts expected earnings per share of $1.17 on top of $21.77 billion in revenue. The firm reported EPS of $1.16, a figure that was just shy of expectations. The key focus this morning centers on the firm's expense management as it attempts to expand its profit margins under the Federal Reserve's asset cap.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) also issued its quarterly earnings report. Average analyst expectations called for EPS of $1.67 on top of $18.4 billion in revenue.
Shares of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) popped 2.7% in pre-market hours after the stock received an upgrade from Macquarie. The analysts noted Microsoft's ability to rebound from two previous pullbacks and noted the firm's strong earnings power. Macquarie raised its rating for MSFT stock from "Neutral" to "Outperform."
Today, look for another earnings report from PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC). Wall Street anticipates earnings per share of $2.73 on $4.32 billion in revenue.
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.