JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images
U.S. stocks wavered on Wednesday after
and other U.S. banks reported strong profits and investors prepared for the Coinbase direct listing.
Shortly after the open, the
ticked up 50 points, or 0.2%, while the
was little changed, and the
gained 0.1%.
JPMorgan (ticker: JPM), for instance, reported a profit of $4.50 a share, easily topping estimates for $3.10 a share, while Goldman Sachs (GS) reported earnings of $18.60 a share, blowing by forecasts for $10.22 a share. Even Wells Fargo (WFC) topped earnings forecasts, reporting a profit of $1.05 a share, ahead of estimates for 70 cents.
The market reaction, however, was tepid: JPMorgan stock was down 1.2%, while Wells Fargo ticked down 0.3%, and Goldman Sachs gained 1.5%.
And the price of Bitcoin hit a fresh record above $64,000 on Wednesday as investors awaited Coinbase’s debut on the Nasdaq. The largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange will list under the ticker COIN. The Nasdaq gave a reference price for Coinbase late on Tuesday of $250, which means the company’s market capitalization could be as much as $65.3 billion.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday. That was in response to a request by regulators to temporarily halt
(JNJ) Covid-19 vaccine shots, after six people who received the J&J shot were diagnosed with severe blood clots.
READ MORE
On the economic front, several Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to speak, including Chair
Jerome Powell
at noon Eastern. The Fed’s Beige Book of economic conditions is due later.
Prices for U.S. crude and global benchmark Brent also climbed after the International Energy Agency lifted its annual forecast for global oil demand in 2021 in its monthly report, saying the energy industry is well on its way to recovery from the pandemic.
European stocks saw mild gains, but the French
was up about 0.2% as
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton
shares surged in Paris on strong results. In the first quarter since the integration of U.S. jeweler Tiffany, LVMH’s watches and jewelry unit saw organic revenue growth of 35% year over year, while core fashion saw growth of 52%.
The
climbed 1.4%, but the
fell 0.4%. Shares of
surged nearly 6% after the Japanese technology and manufacturing conglomerate’s president
Nobuaki Kurumatani
resigned. The company said a week ago it was considering a merger with a global fund where he previously worked.
(XOM) gained 1.5% after getting upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.
(VNO) fell 2% after getting cut to Underperform from Neutral at BofA.
(BBBY) tumbled 14.5% after the company reported a profit of 40 cents a share, topping estimates for 31 cents a share, but missed on sales.
(DISCA) stock dropped 2.5% as Credit Suisse continued to sell shares related to the Archegos blowup.
(GLPG) climbed 4.1% after getting upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
Write to editors@barrons.com
