Stock Market News for Oct 16, 2019

Wall Street closed Tuesday’s trading session at more than three-week high, thanks to better-than expected third quarter 2019 earnings of mostly major American banks. Investors paid more attention to earnings as there wasn’t substantial development on the U.S.-China trade deal front.

The three major indexes— the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite — finished the day in green on Oct 15. Dow Jones hit 27,024.80 after gaining 0.9%, the S&P 500 finished at 2,995.68 after adding 1% and tech-laden Nasdaq Composite closed at 8,148.71 after rising 1.2%.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) declined 3.2% to close at 14.11 on Tuesday. Finally, advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.47-to-1 ratio.

Better-Than-Expected Q3 2019 Earnings

Major American banks and corporate giants kick-started the third quarter 2019 earnings season on Tuesday, reporting impressive earnings and revenues that indicated toward a healthy U.S. economy.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM gained 3% on Oct 15 after its third-quarter 2019 earnings of $2.68 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.44. The investment bank’s net income rose 8% to $9.1 billion and home lending revenues increased 12% on an annualized basis. In addition, fixed income trading revenues also gained 25%, owing to the strong client activity across products. (Read more)

Shares of Citigroup Inc. C rose 1.4% on Tuesday after the bank reported quarterly earnings of $1.98 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.96. Citigroup shares have added about 36.8% on a year-to-date basis while the broader S&P 500 has gained 19.5%. (Read more)

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated UNH added 8.2% on Oct 15 after the diversified health care company’s quarterly earnings of $3.88 per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.75. The company’s revenues of $60.35 billion for the third quarter also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.2%. UnitedHealth had revenues of $56.56 billion a year ago. (Read more)

JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and UnitedHealth carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson JNJ gained 1.6% on Tuesday after the company’s quarterly earnings of $2.12 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2. The company’s impressive earnings were largely pushed by increased sales of cancer and other prescription drugs. Johnson & Johnson also posted quarterly revenues of $20.73 billion, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.2%. The company had year-ago revenues of $20.35 billion. (Read more)

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Citigroup Inc. (C) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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