(Bloomberg) — Stocks stabilized after a tech rout, with traders weighing a mixed reading on inflation as big banks kicked off the earnings season.
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Equities edged up in early trading as traders looked past data showing US producer prices climbed slightly more than forecast — as categories that are used to calculate the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures price index, were not that bad.
To Paul Ashworth at Capital Economics, the PPI was actually “a lot better” than it looks, given that the components that feed into the PCE were benign.
“September rate cut on the way,” he noted.
Wells Fargo & Co. sank 5% after warning it won’t be able to whittle away costs as fast as forecast. JPMorgan Chase & Co. fluctuated after reporting record profit — while missing on a few key metrics like net interest income. Citigroup Inc. climbed 2.5% as equity trading beat estimates even as the lender said costs for the year are likely to be at the high end of the range previously provided.
Investors are also eager to hear from the largest banks about the state of the US economy and expectations for the rest of the year, including the potential impact of the presidential elections in November.
Treasury 10-year yields declined one basis point to 4.20%. Japan likely stepped into currency markets prop up the yen soon after US inflation figures came out Thursday, according to a Bloomberg analysis of central bank accounts.
Corporate Highlights:
AT&T Inc. suffered a massive hack of customer data — separate from one reported earlier this year — that included records of calls and texts for nearly all of its mobile-phone users for a six-month period in 2022, one of the biggest breaches of private communications data in recent memory.
Boeing Co. has won an order for 35 of its 737 Max aircraft, including its largest variant, the Max 10, from the US aircraft leasing unit of Tokyo Century Corp.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG cut its profit outlook for the full year and warned that breaking even at its namesake German unit…
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